Hi, Society
by WannabeeAussie
Summary: Rikki is offered the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to model for a well-respected agent! Rikki turns down the offer initially, but when she desperately needs quick money she reconsiders. Suddenly, she's thrown head-first into the world of professional modeling. Rikki discovers that beneath the glamour, there's a lot more to modeling than she originally thought.
1. 1 Discovered

Rikki Chadwick brushed a few strands of blonde hair out of her face, pouring yet another cup of coffee into her favorite mug. Now that the lunch rush was over, it looked like it would be another quiet day at the café.

Rikki sighed and looked over the small number of orders she had taken today. It was already 1:30 and they'd only had five tables. When _Rikki's_ had first opened, a beautiful Saturday like this would've brought in a crowd of customers. She knew what had caused this abrupt change in business, and she intended to fix it, right that minute.

"Zane!" she called into the office after taking a sip of coffee. She grabbed a menu on the way inside.

"Hey, babe." Zane said. Rikki rolled her eyes. She hated pet names.

As usual, Zane was sitting on the couch with Nate playing some dirt biking game. His eyes didn't stray from the TV when she walked in. Rikki could probably walk around topless and he would've even glance up, not with that stupid game on.

"Zane, we need to talk." Rikki told her boyfriend.

Nate looked up from his controller. "Ooooooh." he called to Zane. "She's got in in for ya, mate."

"I want to talk to him _alone_." Rikki hinted. Nate didn't move.

Rikki groaned and went to her last resort. She walked over to the TV and quickly switched it off. The two boys immediately started complaining, but at least they started to realize she was serious about having a talk. Nate left with a "good luck" to his friend, and Rikki and Zane were finally alone.

"If this is about that broken plate, I told you it wasn't my fault." Zane said quickly.

"It's not about the plate. It's about these prices! They're ridiculous, and they're driving our customers away." Rikki explained, dropping the menu in his lap before taking Nate's former seat. Two weeks ago, Zane had decided to raise all the prices up two dollars. Ever since then, Rikki had overheard grumbling about the prices and witnessed the people dwindling. Today was a prime example of that.

"But the ones who stay pay more." Zane reminded her.

"Zane...we should be trying to establish a business here. We need people who become regulars and tell their friends about the café, not people who complain about our high prices and drive away their friends." she tried to reason with him logically.

Zane pulled Rikki close and kissed her. "Fine, whatever you want. I'll change them back this weekend...and then we can advertise a price drop! It'll be brilliant."

Rikki smiled good-naturedly, kissed Zane again, and went back out to check on the café. There was a thirty-something year old man waiting to be served at the bar.

"Sorry mate, didn't hear you come in. What can I get for you?" Rikki asked him politely.

It was funny how much she'd changed in the past few years. She remembered waitressing at the JuiceNet with Emma and how difficult she had found it...the endless complainers, having to be nice all the time, and the constant rushing to get things done. Now she loved it, and personally thanked each person for coming and supporting _Rikki's_. Every time money went into the till, Rikki felt a sense of satisfaction.

The man looked up from his menu. He looked like a business-man type, the sort of person Mr. Bennett would work with. His dark eyes studied her make-up less face and messy bun before ordering. "I'll take a large coffee, black, with two sugars."

"Coming right up." Rikki told him, scribbling the order down on a notepad. She could feel the man's eyes on her as she prepared his drink. When she went to hand it to him, he was scrutinizing her body. Super creepy.

She ignored the staring and cleaned off a few tables. She didn't wash them, of course. That was Zane's job. The last thing she needed was a certain fishy development at work.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the man at the bar. "You know," he called to her, "you've got a very interesting look. Is that your natural hair color?"

"Uh, thanks. Yes it is." Rikki said. She had been asked that question at nearly every hairdressing shop she'd been to.

"How tall are you?" the man inquired, studying her like she was a new car to buy.

"About 168 centimeters." she told him.

The man laughed, a pleasant lilting sound. "I bet I'm coming off a bit strangely, sorry about that. I'm a modeling agent. My name is Darren Montgomery. Perhaps you've heard of me?"

Rikki shook her head slowly. Was this guy trying to pull her leg? "I haven't...sorry."

"No worries, no worries." Darren said and laughed again. "I'll tell you what, you're exactly the type of girl I'm looking to manage. Fresh, young, beautiful...why don't you come by my office and we can set you up with some headshots? Free of charge, of course. I've got a client who I already know would be interested in you."

Rikki considered it for a moment. Rikki Chadwick, a model? Those words just didn't blend. "I don't think so. Thanks for the offer."

Darren looked surprised at her refusal. "Okay, well, I'll leave you my card in case you reconsider. And I highly suggest you do." He dropped money on the table for his coffee, along with a business card, and left. Rikki watched him walk away. Did that really just happen? Sure, someone like Cleo could easily be a model-she was tall, thin and gorgeous. And she could easily picture Bella in front of a camera. But Rikki? Her friends sure would have a good laugh when she told this story!

Rikki totaled Darren's bill, put the money in the till and kept the tip for herself. After, she took a minute to study the card he'd left behind. It had an address, phone number, and a short list of talents he was supposedly looking for.

"Whatcha looking at?" Zane asked, coming out of the office with a big box of fruit.

"You'll never guessed what just happened." Rikki said, cracking up.

"What?" he set the fruit on the counter and grabbed a washcloth to wash the tables.

"A guy just came in here, told me he was a modeling agent, and asked if I wanted to model!" Rikki laughed. "How hilarious is that?"

Zane looked back at her with a grin. "Don't get me wrong, Rikki, you're gorgeous, but that sounds like a scam to me."

"I know, I know." Rikki said. "But his card looks pretty legit." She waved it in the air.

"Let's have a look." Zane snatched it from her and held it up to the light. He read it aloud. "Darren Montgomery, Agent, acting, modeling, singing, and dancing. You know, maybe I should give this guy a call, I've got all those skills." They both laughed. Zane dug his phone out of his pocket. "Let's look up this Darren guy."

Zane was on his phone for a few minutes before he showed Rikki what he found. There were pictures of him with models like Miranda Kerr and Nicole Trunfio. Each article he was in seemed to talk about his success stories, how he'd taken girls off the streets and turned them into supermodels. Both Zane and Rikki were in awe.

"Are you sure this is the guy?" Zane asked in disbelief. "I mean, wow...he went from rubbing shoulders with celebrities to sitting in our café!"

"This guy was in _our_ café." Rikki stated. It was a difficult concept to grasp. "What if he tells his friends about us? The café for the stars!" she declared in a deep, showman voice. "We'll have Lincoln Lewis walking through that door in a few minutes, I reckon."

"Rikki, this is the real deal." Zane said seriously. He picked up the business card and pointed to it. "_This_ is the ticket to money, fame, success...money! Heaps of it! Not to mention..." Zane came to her side of the bar, picked her up and swung her around. "I'd be dating a model!"

Rikki laughed, struck a pose, and kissed him good-naturedly. "Come on, Zane. Can you really picture me getting photoshopped on the cover of _Cleo_? I'm not that type of girl."

He put his arm around her and they sat down together. "I'm just saying this could be a really great opportunity, for you and us. We could really use the extra money around here." he gestured to the empty café. "Just promise me you'll think about it?"

"Fine." Rikki grumbled. She took the card from him and put it in her pocket. Soon enough, a few tables came in and made the thought of Darren Montgomery and his glamourous offer slide completely out of her memory.

xxx

"Dad? I'm home." Rikki called into the small caravan she shared with her father. She found him sprawled out on the couch with a beer and a huge stack of envelopes on the coffee table. Rikki was now old enough to realize what they were. Bills.

"Hey, Rikki." her father was startled. "I thought you were working late."

"Business was slow so we closed early." she replied and grabbed a bottle of Coke for herself. She crossed the small kitchen and sank into the chair across from her dad. It was then that she noticed the expression on his face. "Dad...what's wrong?"

He sighed. "You know that woman I was seeing? Jane?"

"Yes..." Rikki answered cautiously. Jane was an annoying, greedy witch who happened to be the spitting image of Rikki's mother. Naturally, Mr. Chadwick had started dating her a few months back.

"Turns out her name isn't Jane. She tricked us, Rik. I invited her here last night and while I was sleeping she stole all the money I was going to use to pay the bills. Now she's skipped town and I found out Jane Fletcher doesn't actually exist." he explained with another loud sigh. "What's worse is I can't pay the mortgage or any of the bills."

Rikki shook her head. Money was always tight for her family...now some woman decided to rip them off?

"It'll be okay, dad. I can use my check from the café to pay some of the bills, and we can try to get an extension on the mortgage and the one's we can't pay." she suggested comfortingly. "I have a bit saved up, we can use that, too."

"No, I can't let you do that, Rikki. That's your money, you need it for uni. Besides, these bills are months old. I've already got extensions on them. Even if I did use your cash it wouldn't cover them." her dad told her. "I hate to say this, but I think the only way to pay them off is to sell this place and get something cheaper."

"We can't!" Rikki argued immediately. "I've got the café, and my friends...it's my final year. We can't move!" she begged. "How much longer do we have to pay them? I'll work extra shifts, borrow some money, anything."

"Two weeks." her dad said gravely. "I'll try to sell my bike and maybe get another job, but if nothing turns up..."

Rikki nodded and bit her lip. She would make it work somehow. She had to.

xxx

A few hours later, Rikki had eaten some ice cream and decided to reassess the money situation. She had a few hundred dollars saved up in case she decided to go to university, but she didn't _really _need it...that wouldn't be enough to cover all the bills, though. She'd helped her dad go through them all, and they needed a little more than three thousand to cover all of them and the mortgage. Okay, so three-thousand minus two hundred and fifty left them with a debt of about two-thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars.

It was hopeless. Absolutely, utterly, terribly hopeless. There was no way out. She couldn't even ask Zane to borrow money. He had put all his money into the café, as well as some of his dad's. And Rikki seriously doubted there was some more missing treasure to be recovered like last time. Rikki had to face the fact that in two weeks time, she would be moving away from all the people she cared about.

She groaned in frustration and stood up. She couldn't just sit around worrying about the bills. They were there whether she thought about them or not. Rikki decided to do some chores to try and forget about the money for a while.

She grabbed the washing from both her dads room and her own, then walked into the laundry room. She stripped off the clothes she was wearing and put them into the "darks" pile. As her jeans dropped into the pile, a small white paper fell out. Had she written herself a note? She'd completely forgotten the days events after she came home.

Rikki picked up the card and reread it, seeing the opportunity in a new light. Darren Montgomery could be the key that solved all of her problems. He had offered her free headshots, right?

Forgetting about the laundry, Rikki waltzed into her room and grabbed her phone. Her dad was sleeping so she didn't worry about being in her underwear and bra.

Carefully, Rikki analyzed the phone number on the card and pressed each corresponding number on her phone. She hoped someone would answer this late at night. She wasn't sure she could go through with this plan in the light of day.

"Hello, Darren Montgomery's office? How can I help you?" a calm woman's voice answered.

Rikki realized Darren didn't even know her name. "Uh...can you please put me on the phone with Darren?" she asked.

The woman was short, professional and curt with her refusal. "I'm sorry, Mr. Montgomery doesn't usually take calls past eight o'clock. Is this an emergency?"

Rikki's heart sunk. She couldn't possibly be qualified as an emergency. She tried one last time. "I'm not sure. Could you please tell him that...that the girl from Rikki's café has reconsidered his offer?"

Rikki was put on hold for many frantic seconds. Finally someone answered.

"I knew you'd reconsider!" Darren said gleefully. "I'll need a bit of information from you before we can schedule you in for some test shots. First, your name?"

Rikki grinned. This was actually happening! "Rikki. Rikki Chadwick." she said quickly.

"Ah, Rikki...so that was your restaurant earlier?" he asked.

"Yes." she answered. "My boyfriend and I just opened it."

"Lovely." Darren commented. "And how old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"My God!" he exclaimed. He was a very cheerful guy. "You're barely out of high school! Perfect! It'll be years before anyone will even think about saying you're too young for the industry."

"Um, actually, Mr. Montgomery...I'm still in high school. My eighteeth birthday was just a few weeks ago."

"Call me Darren, please." Darren's voice was much less enthusiastic. "It'll be difficult for you to juggle all of this...school, modeling, and your job. Are you sure you want to continue?"

"Yes." Rikki said firmly.

"Great! We'll get your full information when you come in for the shots. Let's meet in a few days. I had the photographers lined up already for a different girl, but she just didn't have the look. So let's say, Tuesday, at four o'clock? The address is on my card. And if the camera likes you like I think it will, we should have no trouble booking you."

"Sounds wonderful, thank you so much." Rikki said, her hands shaking. She was really doing this.

"See you then." Darren said. He uttered one more sentence before he hung up. "We'll make a model out of you yet, Miss Chadwick."

**This story was inspired by the fact that I think Cariba Heine should be a model. It's dedicated to Michelle, Leo, Katie, and all the other Cariba fans out there! The title "Hi, Society" is from an episode of Gossip Girl and it basically shows Rikki's introduction to this higher level of society where fame and fortune lies. **

**If you would like to read more, please leave a review! Tell me what you like or dislike about the story so far and what you hope to see happen :) Beneath the glamour of modeling there are a lot of things Rikki can discover about herself and the people behind the magazines. Thank you for reading! xo**


	2. 2 Flashes

**I'm so happy with the support you guys have given this story so far! :) I wanted to clear up a few things I should've included in the last chapter...Some people thought Zane would be jealous of Darren, which is incredibly true BUT I forgot to include an important fact about Darren. I picture him as a very obviously gay character. So Zane initially would've been jealous, but then when he looked up Darren online he would've realized he wasn't hitting on Rikki at all. Also, I'm American but since H2O is an Aussie show I'm trying to include a lot of Aussie terms and measurements. So, my fellow 'Mericans, Rikki would be 168 cm tall (Cariba Heine's height), which is about five feet four inches tall. I hope you guys like this chapter, sorry it took a while to write!**

"You're kidding." Bella said, her blue eyes wide. "Why wasn't he there when I was singing?! You're so lucky!"

Rikki laughed. Bella wasn't actually jealous, although she had a good point. Why, out of all the girls on the Gold Coast, was she the one given this opportunity? Bella was an amazing singer with obvious talent. What about Rikki screamed, "model material" to a professional agent?

"I wouldn't say it's lucky." Rikki tried to justify her decision to model. "I wouldn't even be doing it if I didn't need the money quickly. I probably won't get any jobs, anyway. I'll go in, fall over in my high heels a few times and they'll fire me."

"Don't worry Rikki, you'll be great. When are you going in for a photo shoot?" Cleo said encouragingly.

"Tomorrow at four." she told her friends.

"Good luck." Lewis said seriously. Rikki knew she would need it.

Cleo changed the topic, pulling a wedding planner out of her school bag. She showed everyone the beautiful orange dresses her and Sam had picked out for the bridesmaids.

"Kim's complaining about the length, she wants them shorter. You should've seen how red my dad's face went!" the group dissolved into a heap of giggles at Cleo's conservative father. "Kim is going to be a nightmare on the big day."

"So, Will, are you going to the wedding?" Bella asked her love interest. The two flirted with each other constantly, but weren't a couple. Rikki and Cleo had a not-so-secret vendetta to get them together officially.

Rikki and Cleo exchanged glances and secretive smiles. They had known each other for so long they could practically read each others minds.

"Let's go get a drink, Lewis." Cleo hooked her arm through her boyfriends and went up to the counter.

Rikki checked her watch. "You know, I should get an early start to my shift. See you guys later. Good luck tonight, Bella."

"Thanks." Bella murmured. Rikki walked away from the table, leaving Will and Bella to have some alone time before the band started warming up. Just as she and Cleo had planned.

Rikki ducked behind the bar and made her friends juices. The café was getting crowded again, which brought a smile to her face. Whenever the band performed they usually did really well, and Zane was advertising a price drop which was also helping things along. Maybe if they started turning a profit this anxious, worried feeling would go away and her relationship would get off the rocks. It had never been exactly smooth sailing with Zane and her, but she missed their old easygoing weekends and spending time together without a desk between them.

She promised herself she'd do something with Zane that weekend, and then the night flew by. It was an enjoyable night at work. They were constantly busy, but never that panic-inducing 'where the hell does the line end' busy. Bella had written some new songs and the entire atmosphere was happy. The café closed right on time, clean-up was quick, and before Rikki knew it she was in bed trying to get a good night's sleep for her first day of modeling.

xxx

Rikki slept in late the next morning. She wondered if "beauty sleep" really did help people look better, or if it was just the make-up and Photoshop that did that. She guessed she would find out that day after school.

Somehow word had gotten around about her new job. Rikki never liked to be in the spotlight, but suddenly everyone at school was asking her for invites to parties and autographs from so-and-so. As if she would ever get invited to those parties or meet celebrities. Even if she did, there was no way she was granting favours to classmates she barely knew.

Luckily, her friends didn't talk about that. At lunch they were their normal selves, unlike everyone else in the school. Bella was blushing fiercely as Will talked about going diving together. Lewis helped Cleo study for a big history test she had later on. Rikki smiled at the normality of their group, although they were far from normal.

After lunch she endured a few more hours with annoying people, and then the nerves began. School let out in ten minutes. She would be driving to Darren's office immediately after. What if she didn't fit into any of their clothes? What if this was all just a scam, and wouldn't amount to anything?

The bell rang. Rikki walked quickly to the car park and plugged the address into Zane's GPS. The office was in the city, a twenty-minute drive but the traffic could be abysmal sometimes. She responded to a few texts, took a deep breath, and pushed away her anxious emotions. Funny, she wasn't scared to dive to the depths of the ocean but the thought of a camera made her nervous. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she expected. But that was a strong "maybe".

xxx

When she arrived at the management building, she had to give her name to a man who ran the valet. He then took her car and parked it for her. Strange.

There were four paparazzi waiting just outside the door. They didn't even glance at her, thankfully, but Rikki nearly had to shove them aside to get through the door.

The receptionist in the lobby gave her a warm welcome, greeted her by her first name, and pointed her in the right direction. She said Darren's office was on the fourth floor, but Rikki was to meet him on the fifth floor for hair and make-up in the red room. She had no idea what a red room was but she smiled, thanked the lady, and went to the elevator.

The elevator opened up on the fifth floor to a long white hallway with a lot of carefully marked doors. Each label said a color, written in the color. It gave the hallway a childish, Sesame Street effect. She found the red room, at the end of the hallway, and knocked on the door. No one opened it or said anything, so she pushed it open.

She felt like she was stepping into a furnace. Everywhere she looked, there was red. Red carpet, red walls, even red furniture. Maybe this was some interior designers idea of a fashionable make-up room.

"Rikki! How are you, darling?" Darren greeted her. He kissed her on both cheeks and didn't wait for a reply. "I've got Maureen and Ty here to do your hair and make-up. Then head to the purple room for wardrobe, 'kay? I have a meeting to go to but I'll be back up here to see your very first photo shoot!"

Rikki thanked him and nodded, feeling a bit overwhelmed. This was all happening so fast.

Darren left, leaving Rikki to a pretty black woman and a tall blonde man. They were both dressed very fashionably.

"Hi, I'm Maureen." the girl said. She pulled out a red chair for Rikki to sit in. "This is Ty."

"Nice to meet you." Rikki replied. Her voice was shaky and she took a seat.

Ty immediately plunged his hands into Rikki's blonde, curly mane. "You have very thick hair. Is it natural?"

"Yes." Rikki said. Ty stroked it a few more times and then began working with it. He coated her hair in a sort of gel and took a long time curling it. After that he twisted it into an updo and spritzed it with hairspray. Rikki gagged at the smell, she never used hairspray.

While Ty expertly styled her hair, Maureen got to work on the rest of her body. She waxed Rikki's legs and brows (ow), mixed several different foundations to perfectly match her skin tone, coated her eyelashes in mascara and did this thing called "contouring" to define her cheekbones. She was constantly asked to look up, look down, pout her lips, and close her eyes to easily apply all the products. Rikki couldn't stop blinking when they put on eyeliner, so that had to be redone three times.

By the end of this process, an hour had passed and Rikki felt like a Barbie doll. Her face was caked in make-up and her hair felt stiff. She couldn't possibly look good.

Maureen brought in an assistant and they did lighting checks to make sure she wouldn't look washed out on camera. Rikki wanted to check herself out, but she was sent out of the room before she could do so.

In the purple room, Rikki was again greeted by name. How did all these people already know her?

The wardrobe lady didn't bother introducing herself. She thrust an outfit at Rikki and pointed to a change room. Privacy obviously wasn't a big concern with whoever made the change room. It was an area with a translucent purple curtain that didn't completely cover whoever was changing in it. Rikki wasn't that surprised. These people were all insane. At least she didn't have to change in front of a man.

The outfit she was given looked about her size, though the shoes were much too big. There was a pretty beaded black dress, a chunky gold necklace, and strappy gold shoes. Rikki asked for a smaller size for the shoes and then she was all set.

Finally, she was allowed to look in a mirror. Her perfectly lined mouth dropped into an O. She looked...good. Better than good. Amazing! She was scared to touch her face, afraid the illusion might fall away.

Her lips were a tad darker than they usually were, like she'd just spent the last hour kissing someone passionately. Her cheekbones popped and her eyes smoldered. Her hair was a work of art. She would really have to go back and thank Maureen and Ty for their hard work.

As for the clothes, they fit her perfectly. The shoes were hard to walk in but she looked graceful just standing still. Rikki wasn't the type to take pictures of herself, but she desperately wanted to capture this moment. Then she realized that she was about to get plenty of photos of herself. The photo shoot was about to begin.

The wardrobe lady was impatient to get her out, and pointed her in the right direction. She carefully walked down the hallway to the only unmarked door. She went in after knocking.

"Hi, you must be Rikki." a man with a big camera said. "Are you ready to begin?"

"Um, I guess so. Where's Darren?" she would feel more comfortable with a familiar face around.

"He'll be here in a few minutes. We should probably wait for him, he likes to approve of his model's look." the photographer said. He offered Rikki a seat and she gladly took it. "I'm Matt, by the way."

Rikki shook his hand and they made small talk until Darren arrived.

"Stand up, let's see the finished product!" Darren said happily, motioning for her to stand. Rikki laughed and stood high in her heels. She felt glamourous, like a movie star. Darren looked her up and down then announced, "Perfection!"

Matt and Darren walked Rikki to the set, a white area with lots of lights. Darren told her where to stand while he and Matt worked on the technical side of things.

"Okay, so what we're going to do is start off with posing. Then you'll get changed into something more casual, we'll put your hair down, and we'll take headshots. Sound good?"

Rikki nodded although she didn't understand fifty percent of what Darren told her.

"Ready?" Matt raised his camera. Rikki nodded again.

The camera started clicking. Rikki had no idea what to do. She smiled and put a hand on her hip. Immediately Darren intervened.

"No, no, no." he shook his head in exasperation. "You want your poses to be unique, editorial. Sell the clothes. You've got a killer smile, girl, but you don't always have to use it!"

"Okay." she said. "I'll try harder, sorry."

This time when the camera started clicking, Rikki looked far off into the distance. She imagined she was looking at invisible waves, past the camera flashes.

"Nice." Darren commented. "Try something edgier. Be...fierce! Unattainable!"

Darren kept shouting out adjectives and Rikki did her best to portray them. She imagined she was Jennifer Lawrence for a few shots, then Miranda Kerr. She smiled sometimes but not too often. Occasionally she would play with her necklace, or kick out her leg to show off the shoes. In the last shot, she put both hands on her hips and stared into the camera, trying to convey the word "strong".

"Very good!" Darren applauded her. Matt went back through his images and showed them to Darren. Every once in a while one of them would comment things like, "delete it" or "nailed it". Rikki wanted to see them, too, but remained in the lights where she was supposed to. Most of the comments were positive, which filled her with a strong sense of satisfaction. She didn't throw up or fall over, not even once! Needless to say she was quite proud of herself.

When the two guys were done examining the photos, they sent Rikki back to hair and make-up. Rikki hoped this time wouldn't take an hour. It must've been getting late.

Ty and Maureen were happy to see her. They asked about her shoot while they worked their magic. Ty undid her updo and let her hair fall in curls around her face. Maureen removed some of her eye make-up and replaced it with less eyeliner and more natural lashes. Her lipstick was also taken off, and Maureen added a blush to her cheeks. This time they let her look in a mirror.

Again, Rikki was amazed at their skill. Her skin was flawless and glowy. Her blue eyes were still bright, but they were no longer piercing. Her hair looked like her natural texture, but it wasn't frizzy at all.

She thanked the duo and went to change her outfit. This time she was given a simple turquoise blouse, white denim shorts and silver heels. These ones were much easier to walk in.

Rikki was more comfortable getting changed this time, although the dress was hard to take off. She struggled to get it over her head and nearly fell into the curtain.

"Careful with that!" the wardrobe lady hissed at her. "That's two-thousand dollars in your hands."

Rikki tugged off the dress in amazement. Two _thousand_ dollars for a dress?! That would cover more than half her debt!

The lady snatched the dress out of her hands, muttered something about "ungrateful models" and disappeared. Rikki put on the new clothes quickly and checked the mirror. Her hair was a bit looser from her struggle with the dress, but other than that the outfit looked nice. The blouse matched her eyes.

Rikki went back to the photography room and quietly opened the door. Darren and Matt had hooked the camera to a computer and were going through her images again. Rikki couldn't see them very well from the distance, but could hear every word they were saying.

"Gosh, I mean, when I first saw her I thought, "what is Darren thinking with this one?" But I've got to tell you, some of these are stunning. Pity she can't do any runway." Matt was saying.

Darren was proud of his 'discovery'. "It's a gift. I knew she'd be good at it. Of course, we'll have to see what everyone else says."

"Of course." Matt murmured his reply. They went silent and clicked through the images.

Rikki approached them loudly. It was impossible to be silent in those shoes.

Matt unplugged his camera and Darren helped position her in front of the lights. This shoot was not as fun as the first. Her legs hurt from the new footwear and she didn't get to do anything creative. Matt directed her, telling her to smile, turn left, look up, and all that. It was a very short shoot in actuality, but it felt long. Time only flies so often.

Finally the camera flashes stopped. Darren said he would develop the photos and send them to people he knew. He would let Rikki know if she got booked, and then they would have a meeting about taking her on as a client. After all that work, Rikki really hoped so. She could get used to this modeling thing.

She retrieved her clothes from the purple room and neatly folded the blouse and shorts. If the clothes were that expensive, it was the least she could do. And maybe the wardrobe lady wouldn't think of her as an ungrateful model if she could do her own work.

Rikki retraced her steps to get out of the maze of a building. She found the elevator, went to the first floor, and said goodnight to the receptionist.

"Wait, Miss Chadwick! Someone left some things here for you." the woman called after her. Rikki patted her pockets quickly, wondering if she'd dropped something.

The kind receptionist handed her a cloth bag full of bottles. Rikki quickly looked at the labels and realized they were different hair and make-up products. A lot of it she'd never heard of before. What the heck did a primer do? She shrugged and accepted the gifts anyway. It was very considerate.

The valet guy outside got her car (which looked pretty beat-up compared to the other nice cars in the car park) and Rikki sank inside of it. She glanced at the clock and realized it was past eight. She'd spent four hours there without even noticing! She didn't feel hungry at all, which was strange. She had a metabolism like a professional athlete.

She didn't want to ruin her make-up by eating, though. She couldn't wait to show her dad and her friends. They would never believe the day that she'd had.

It felt weird to go through such an incredible experience without Cleo and Bella. They were inseparable, bonded by a secret no one else understood. This, however...this was Rikki's. Something she could call her own, it was unique to her and she could branch out by herself. She would be glad to have her friends support with it, but this was still hers. Much like Bella had singing, Emma had her smarts, and Cleo had her amazing personality. Now Rikki was something other than the rebellious one. She was Rikki the model. She never thought she'd become something like this, but the phrase felt good. Rikki Chadwick, Model for Montgomery Management.

Yes, she could definitely get used to the sound of that.

**Well...what do you think? Will Rikki get famous, and will she get a big head in the process? And although her modeling career may seem smooth-sailing now, I assure you there are a lot of things that can go wrong in an industry like that!**

**PS I'm not a model, actress, dancer, or anything like that so this may not be the most realistic situation for modeling. I have read/watched a lot of interviews so I hope I got a lot of the process right. Anyway, let me know how you like the pace, chapter length, and the story in general! I don't usually include this long of an authors note as well...haha. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and followed! It means a lot. **


	3. 3 Booked

Rikki gently propelled herself into the Moon Pool with her tail, the small motion sending her much farther than legs ever could. She surfaced first, Bella and Cleo's heads popping up just after.

"So...how did it go?" Bella asked. Rikki had received a barrage of texts from her friends the night before asking how it went, but she'd been to busy to answer. She wanted to explain it in person, so she'd asked to meet up here before school.

"Welllll..." Rikki stretched it out, keeping her friends in suspense. "It was really good."

Cleo and Bella grinned. "What happened?" Cleo asked. They all got comfortable in the water.

"I went into the building and found this room called the "Red Room". All the rooms were named after colours, it was so weird. The red room is the make-up room. They did my hair and put on a ton of make-up, but the people were really nice. Then, get this, they put me in a _two thousand_ dollar dress and took pictures! That was fun. Then I changed hair, make-up and clothes and they took head shots."

Cleo and Bella both looked really impressed. While she was going through the experience, Rikki didn't think it was all that glamorous, but when she told the story she realized how exotic it all sounded.

"Darren and the photographer liked the pictures, so they're sending them to people they know to see if I could do anything professionally. So now I guess I'm just waiting for them to call." Rikki shrugged.

"That's so cool." Bella breathed. "Do you think we could ever go to see you there?"

"Yeah! That would be fun. If it happens, which I'm still not sure it will." she replied and laughed, but she was actually really worried about the possibility. What if the whole photo shoot was for nothing? Her friends would be so disappointed. And Zane had been bragging around town that he was dating a model.

"You're gorgeous, Rikki, of course you'll get jobs." Cleo said seriously.

"Thanks." Rikki said awkwardly. She was never good at taking compliments. "Anyway, we better get to school..."

"_You_ want to go to school? Never thought I'd see the day!" Bella joked.

"Ha ha." she replied. Cleo swam out of the cave and Rikki followed, her thoughts becoming a quick blur similar to how fast she swam through the ocean.

xxx

After a dreadfully boring day at school with everyone asking her questions about her shoot, Rikki headed to the café for her shift. She wasn't in the best mood.

Zane intercepted her the moment she pushed through the beads in the door.

"Hey, how did your headshot-thing go?" he asked, then didn't give her a chance to answer. Zane put his arm around her and steered her into the office. "Listen, I've been thinking, maybe when you get famous you could boost advertising for this place. Mention _Rikki's_ in a few interviews, we could get more ads featuring you...what do you think?"

Rikki was sick of questions like this. "I'm not going to get famous, Zane! I told you already what my plan is, if you ever bothered to listen."

"You know I listen to you." Zane shrugged off her concerns with a roll of his eyes. "Is it wrong that I want to support my beautiful, successful girlfriend?"

Rikki also rolled her eyes and tried to push away her concerns about Zane. He always liked to exaggerate things, and he would forget about Rikki's modeling career as soon as it ended. Well, first it needed to begin...

Just as she was thinking that, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Rikki's heart raced when she realized it was from Darren. He wouldn't be calling this early unless she had a job offer.

"Hello?" she tried to sound professional.

"Hey, Rikki, baby." Darren said, very flamboyantly as usual. "This is the call you've been waiting for, I think you'll be really excited about these projects. We'll also need you to sign a few things, so get to the office a-sap."

Without another word, he hung up. Rikki was speechless. She'd gotten a job! More than one!

She raced to get ready before remembered that she already _had_ a job. As in, one she was supposed to be doing at that very moment. She couldn't just drop her shift at the café to rush over to Montgomery Management...could she?

"Zane!" Rikki practically ran into the office. "Zane, I just got a call and I need to get to the modeling place right away. I need you to cover my shift." she explained quickly.

Zane looked annoyed. "I already had plans." he complained. "Can't you call in Sophie or someone?"

"Sophie took the day off, remember? Please, Zane. I need you." she pleaded with him.

"Fine, have fun at your new job." he consented, but he was obviously annoyed. Rikki understood why he was a little mad, but he'd been all for her modeling career just a few minutes ago.

Rikki gave him a quick kiss. "Thank you so much, you're a lifesaver. I'll make it up to you, I promise!" she flew out the door and pulled out her keys.

xxx

Time seemed to repeat itself. Rikki felt the same nervous feeling she'd felt the day before. The cars in front of her on the drive to Montgomery Management looked the exact same. Even the valet person was the same young man. This time Rikki was more prepared for what the building looked like and that was the only difference in the trip.

She said hello to the receptionist and was told to go to Darren's office on the fourth floor. Rikki thanked her, found out her name was Debra, and strode over to the elevator. She had to admit, she attempted to walk like the girls on the runway just a little bit. She might need to practice that, after all!

Darren's office was huge and comfortable. Rikki liked the vibe of it. It wasn't like a serious, businessman office, it was like an artist's studio. There were pictures and sketches everywhere of clothes, people, and sets. Rikki took a seat on the couch across from Darren's desk. She helped herself to a small chocolate from the bowl next to his computer.

Darren stared at her.

"What?" Rikki asked. He laughed.

"Nothing, it's just been a while since anyone had actually eaten one of those. Especially a model." he explained.

The chocolate turned sour in her mouth. Was she supposed to be watching her figure? There were a lot of things Rikki would give up to stay on the Gold Coast, but eating wasn't one of them.

"Okay, I have very exciting news." Darren continued. He was more professional today than he'd been at the photo shoot yesterday. "You must understand that this is practically unheard of, but...you've been offered three different jobs on your first day!"

Rikki grinned. This was obviously good news.

Darren pulled out a few folders. Rikki tried to peek at them, but couldn't. Darren noticed her curiosity and handed her one of the folders. Inside were the photos she'd taken the day before.

There were ten fashion ones of her in the black beaded dress, and five headshots, each from a different angle. Rikki took her time going through them. She looked at them with the strangest feeling, like she was looking at herself from someone else's eyes. The girl in the pictures didn't look anything like her. She was soft and delicate in some photos, but in the next she was fierce and edgy. The headshots were beautiful. You couldn't tell she was wearing a lot of make-up, and her hair looked effortlessly perfect. Rikki wondered if they were Photoshopped at all.

"They're good, aren't they?" Darren asked her. "Everyone was very impressed. So let's talk about your bookings, and then we'll decide if you want to be a client."

"Okay." Rikki agreed easily. She put away the photos carefully, then rethought the action. "Can I keep these? To show my dad?"

Darren chuckled. "I'll get you some copies right away." He pressed a button on a speaker and called someone to do the task. He then pulled up something on his computer and turned the screen to show Rikki. It was a page for a new Australian make-up line called _Young Cosmetics_.

"This brand is just starting out, but they're getting a lot of publicity right now. _Young_ is looking for a girl to represent their products locally, just in ads around the Gold Coast. Eventually they may be looking for a model to campaign for them nationally, but for now it's local. They've seen your portfolio and they really like your look, especially your eyes. This is just one of the offers I've gotten for you, there's two more."

Rikki nodded enthusiastically. She had been offered three different jobs in one day. Wow. "That one sounds good." she said about the _Young_ campaign.

"I think you'll like this one even more, you've got a great body for it. Have you ever heard of Alice Hunter?" Rikki shook her head. "Well, she's a designer and she's just started a new swimsuit line. Frankly, Rikki, you could rock a swimsuit. Most models are really thin, and often swimsuits just don't look good on bones. Picture the scene: You in a pool, in the hottest new swimsuits of the season...this one could go nationally, Alice is getting really big right now. If the ads do go across Australia, it's a big paycheck for you! What do you say?"

Darren obviously wanted her to take that one, but the second Rikki heard "pool" she was out. She'd end up modeling a massive golden tail rather than the 'hottest new swimsuits of the season'. "Sorry...um, I've got some personal reasons not to do that one. What was the last one?"

"If it's your modesty you're worried about, don't be. The Alice Hunter look is all about modesty! Most of the suits are one-pieces, and I'll make sure you have lots of privacy to change. This is a great opportunity, but I guess I could give it to a different client...although they did specifically request you." Darren pushed her, and did a great job at it. If her personal problem was anything other than a mermaid tail, she would be sold on the project. Instead, Rikki declined it again and asked to move on.

He sighed and pulled up another website. "The last one isn't a great opportunity, but it pays quite well for such a small role. It's a perfume ad involving lots of models, lots of different ethnicities and races. You're perfect for the blonde-haired blue-eyed Barbie doll look."

She frowned. Rikki hated being referred to as girly just because she was blonde. It was such an annoying stereotype, just one of the reasons she'd become a rebel. Still, she needed the money. She agreed to do that shoot as well.

"Now, Rikki..." Darren leaned in across the desk. He was getting serious. "You've done the headshots, you've booked the jobs...it's time to discuss a contract with Montgomery Management. Clearly you'd be an asset to the team. You'll need to sign a contract before I can book you for anything, though. I've got one drawn up, do you have a lawyer or someone you want to call before you sign it?"

"No, I'll read it." Rikki said. She took the papers from them and read them carefully. Surprisingly, it was typed in a large print with words that were easy to understand. There was no fine print or secret conditions. She was required to be with Montgomery Management for six months and could choose which jobs to do. She had to get an agreement with her agent before drastically altering her appearance, such as getting a tattoo or dying her hair. Her agent would get eight percent of whatever she made. There were a few other conditions, but most of them were standard. Rikki signed her name in three different spots and then gave it back to her new agent.

"Wonderful!" he beamed, like he'd just purchased a shiny new car. She supposed that to an agent, signing a new model would be a bit like buying something. She didn't like being thought of as a commodity. "Now back to work...so you'll take the Young campaign and the perfume ad..." he scribbled something down as he spoke. "The Young ad will pay two-thousand, remember Montgomery gets a percentage of that, and that one starts shooting next Friday at ten. The perfume ad will pay only five hundred because you aren't the only model, and that one is next week on Saturday. I suppose you should see Aubrey downstairs..."

Rikki tried to cram all this information in her head at once and failed. She asked him to repeat it, then she wondered where exactly she was supposed to go to take these pictures. What was she supposed to wear, how would she get into the building?

Darren laughed and handed her a piece of paper with the information in big, loopy letters. "Go down to the second floor to Aubrey Callaghan's office. She's a schedulist, she'll create a planner for you so that you'll remember all of this. You might meet some of your new coworkers, too. They're dying to meet you, they're very impressed." he winked at her. "Not every model can book three jobs in one day."

She blushed, said thank you and goodbye, and went back to the elevator. A tall, thin girl was coming out as Rikki went in. She looked like a typical model, and Rikki wasn't surprised to see her walk into Darren's office. The girl didn't look at Rikki once.

She shrugged and clicked the button for the second floor. It sucked that she had to model for six months, but hopefully she would be able to set herself up nicely for rent or University. These two new shoots would almost cover her dad's debt, so she needed one more...if she could get through the first ones!

The doors opened and Rikki found a door with "Aubrey Callaghan" written on a metal tag in the front. She knocked and went inside.

With a name like Aubrey Callaghan, Rikki expected a perky younger girl who wore lots of pink and was a former cheerleader. Aubrey was actually an older lady who had drawn-on eyebrows and a crazy pantsuit that looked like it was made out of a hotel bedspread. She smiled at her tentatively and took a seat.

"Hi Rikki, nice to meet you." Aubrey said in a kind, thoroughly accented voice. Was it Russian or German? She had no idea.

"You, too." Rikki replied.

Aubrey pulled four or five different planners out of a drawer. "Pick von." she commanded. Rikki chose a red one. "Do you haf a note for me?"

Rikki handed her the paper Darren had given her and decided the accent was Russian.

Aubrey studied the note for a moment and started writing it down in the red planner. "Vhen do you haf work at waitressing?" she asked.

"Hold on..." Rikki pulled up a picture of her work schedule on her phone and handed it to Aubrey. She, in turn, wrote down all of those days in the planner. Rikki watched almost every day fill up with work. Then Aubrey pulled up an email on her computer and wrote even more things down.

Rikki was given the planner and read through her upcoming days with dread. There were detailed notes about her two photoshoots, something called a "go-see" on a few days, and lots of work at the cafe.

"What's a go-see?" Rikki blurted out, hoping she didn't sound like an idiot.

"Go-see is like an audition for models. You go see if you are right fit for job." Aubrey answered in broken English. "You come here at scheduled time and our car take you to go-see."

"Oh, okay. Thanks." Rikki said. She looked at the three different go-sees she had scheduled. They were all after the perfume and the Young photoshoot...crap. She really needed money. Maybe those shifts at the cafe, combined with her modeling jobs, would be enough cash to pay the debt.

The upcoming week, according to the planner, wouldn't be too busy. She would have plenty of time for school, work and her friends. But the week after that truly began her modeling career, and then she would barely have time to sleep. The Young photoshoot would be during school hours, but she figured she could miss a day of school for two thousand dollars.

Aubrey started typing away at something and Rikki realized it was her cue to leave. She stuffed the planner in her big, unfashionable purse and left. She had promised to tell Cleo, Bella and Zane about her meeting so she texted them as she left the building. A young man who looked like an assistant scurried up to her, handed her an envelope, and dashed away again before Rikki could say a word. Strange.

She opened the envelope and saw that they were her headshots and pictures. She smiled at the photos and carefully put them back in the envelope. They were proof that this was all real, not just a dream.

Rikki walked out the door and remembered to say good night to Debra. She wished she could see Maureen and Ty again. She tried to think of a good word to describe the people at Montgomery. The only word she could think of was "unique", but technically that described everyone everywhere.

As she got to her car Rikki received a flood of congratulations texts from her friends. It was like falling into a warm, familiar hug after a long day. All these new experiences made her glad she had good friends to fall back on. She just hoped she would still have time to see them with this crazy schedule. She had the best friends in the world. Nothing, not even fame, would be worth loosing them.

**I totally meant to have this up earlier but I've been really busy the past few days! Obviously this story is mostly about Rikki, but I'm hoping to include a bit about the other H2O characters. If you were wondering this story takes place after the thirteenth episode in season 3, so Rikki is 18 but Don and Sam haven't been married yet. The next chapter will be about her first professional photoshoots! As you can see, modeling is already starting to interfere with Rikki's life...and we're just getting started xo **


	4. 4 Close-up

**Thank you to the Guest reviewer who pointed out to me that this story would take place BEFORE the 13th episode in the 3rd season, and not after it. My bad haha. Also a big thanks to AudreyCariba, MissLoremasterSarah, Mermaidbyheart, and Purple Angel Love for reviewing on every chapter so far! 3 It means a lot, I hope you continue to read and enjoy the story.**

Rikki tried to get a few extra minutes of sleep as she was driven to the Young photoshoot. She drove herself to Montgomery, then she was driven in a sleek black car to the location of the shoot. The driver told her it would be a half-hour ride.

She never did manage to doze off. Excitement kept her up. Instead of being at school like most girls her age on a Friday, she was going to her glamorous new job. Who would be able to sleep at a time like this?

The car pulled up to a big white building called Wonder Studios. The photographer today was a very good one, or so she'd been told. His name was David Wonder and he'd had pictures in Vogue Australia.

The moment Rikki was in the door she was whisked away to hair and make-up. The make-up artist didn't talk much, but she explained that the first shoot would be for eye make-up. She put some weird drops in her eyes to take away the redness, then got a damp cloth and prepared to wash her face.

Rikki instinctively backed away from the wetness. "Is that really necessary?" she asked.

"Yes, of course." the girl was faintly annoyed. "Make-up is an art that requires a clean canvas."

The girl spoke as if she were Leonardo da Vinci about to paint the Mona Lisa. It was just make-up. Rikki resisted the urge to roll her eyes and tried to think of a good excuse.

"It's just..." she spoke as she thought. "I have really, really sensitive skin. I can't use most cleansers and I have to wash it a special way."

"Our cleansers are all-natural." the make-up girl argued.

"That's no good, I have to use the kind I was prescribed. Is there a bathroom somewhere I can wash it at?" Rikki persisted. She realized that she sounded like a brat, but there was no other option.

"Fine, just be quick about it!" the girl snapped and tossed her the cloth. Instinctively Rikki caught it, then sprinted for the nearest bathroom before the ten seconds were up. She started changing just as the door shut, her body becoming water for a split second. She hit the ground with a thud, her newly-sprouted tail almost too big for the small bathroom.

Rikki groaned and started scrubbing her face with the cloth. Luckily her skin wasn't sensitive at all. She put a few pumps of hand soap on the cloth for good measure, knowing she'd have to return with clean skin. She finished washing and dried herself off.

When she returned to the make-up room, the girl had gotten a coffee and a much better attitude. She sat Rikki down in the chair and started spreading a thick foundation on her face with a brush.

The girl told Rikki that her name was Lisa, she'd had a late night doing make-up for an InStyle shoot and she wasn't feeling well. She thanked Rikki for not trying to sleep while she was doing make-up. Apparently most models did that.

"I'm tired, but I'm not _that_ tired." Rikki laughed off Lisa's gratitude. Lisa started applying cover-up to the shadows under her eyes.

Make-up lasted about an hour. Lisa put thick black eye-liner on Rikki's blue eyes, along with smoky eye shadow and two coats of black mascara. Pale pink lipstick completed the look.

Her hair was put in a braided bun, with a few curls left down to frame her face. It looked soft, but in actuality it was stiff with hairspray. Her skin looked flawless and her eyes defined, but they were just caked with make-up. It felt strange to be so fake. Other girls would see this advertisement and think that if they used Young make-up they would have soft hair and perfect skin and it just wasn't true...unless they spent an hour and a half in front of a mirror with a professional make-up artist. It was disappointing, but hey, what could she do now?

Lisa started brushing powder onto Rikki's nose and Rikki tried to bring up the topic with her.

"Have you ever thought about doing a shoot with actual results?" she asked tentatively. "Like, you use a cheap make-up sponge and only one colour foundation and you put on the make-up the way regular people do. Then you could advertise real results, so girls could see how they would actually look with the make-up on.

"That ad would never sell products." Lisa dismissed the suggestion immediately. Rikki slumped. She thought it was a good idea. Whenever she saw a make-up ad, it was obviously Photo shopped. She would rather know that a product worked rather than look at a pretty face.

Three men came in as Lisa put the finishing touches on Rikki's face. They each carried the same beautiful purple gown.

"Try this one on." the middle man said. "It should be your size."

"Without ruining your hair, if you can manage it." Lisa added.

She was given the dress and Rikki took a few steps towards the bathroom. Instantly one of the men stopped her.

"Change in here." he said sharply. "The bathroom floor is disgusting, it can't touch the dress."

Rikki sighed and halted. She raised her eyebrows at the three guys. "Can you turn around, then?"

The men turned to face the wall with perplexed expressions on their faces. Rikki quickly took off her shirt and jeans and stepped into the dress. She took off her bra when the dress covered her, then Lisa helped her zip it up.

The dress wasn't exactly Rikki's style, but it was beautiful. Every inch of it was covered in sequins and there was a long slit up the side. The back and the sides of the dress were cut out and it made her appear much skinnier. A plunging neckline made the long dress feel skimpy, but Rikki didn't care. She stuck her leg out of the slit in a show-girl kick and grinned at her reflection.

"You're all good." she told the guys, who were still looking at the wall. They rushed forward with shoes and jewelry Rikki hadn't noticed before. They put in her tall silver stilettos, shoved diamond studs into her nearly closed-up earring holes, and put two rings on each hand. They debated a necklace for a while. One wanted to use a simple chain with an amethyst on it, and the others liked Rikki's locket. They thought the pop of red looked good with the purple dress.

They argued about it for a few minutes but finally decided to let Rikki keep the locket on. She was happy about this. It was one small touch of familiarity compared to this new experience.

"Where did you get it from? We'll have to let the designer know we're using it in the shoot." Lisa said, looking at the locket more closely.

Rikki pulled away slightly, letting the locket fall out of the girls hand. She never liked other people touching it. "It was handmade a long time ago."

"Do you know the creator?" one of the guys asked, the one who wanted her to wear the other necklace.

"Sort of. He'd be okay with me wearing it." she answered.

The man seemed pleased with this and pulled out an Altoids can filled with pins. He tightened one of the straps of the dress, arranging it just right.

"There's a bit of redness on her chest, can you take care of that Lisa?" one of the guys pointed to a line left by Rikki's bra. She blushed, but they probably couldn't tell from all the make-up she was wearing. Lisa hurried over with a bit of powder.

A few more things were corrected and then it was time to shoot. The room was bright with a white background. The photographer was a scruffy looking man, perhaps thirty years old. A younger lady was there as well and she introduced herself as Victoria Wolfe, one of the creators of_ Young_. She told Rikki that she loved her "look". Lots of people had told her that and she didn't really understand it, but she said thank you anyway.

Rikki was given different props that she could use, like eye-shadow palette's, lipsticks, brushes, and a beautiful silver hand mirror. She mostly used the hand mirror, letting her reflection get into the shots as well. She played with her necklace, twirled around in the dress, and basically acted like a completely different person. The photographer didn't correct her once, he liked the direction she took with the shoot. Before she knew it, three rolls of film had been used up and forty-five minutes had passed.

They went through the pictures and Rikki really liked them. There was one where the dress flowed behind her and her eyes were closed slightly, letting the eye make-up show beautifully. Another with the hand mirror had four haunting blue eyes, bright against the dark eye-shadow. The photographer kept pointing out the ones that he liked, and Victoria was impressed. Rikki still had a hard time believing it was her in the photos.

"Alright, I think we've got plenty of shots." Victoria said, clapping her hands together. "Let's redo the hair and make-up for lipstick. Rikki, you'd look great in red. Tell Lisa to use _Vixen_ and tell Michel to get the red Givenchy. The short one, we're going for a sultry look."

Rikki understood less than half of what Victoria had said, but luckily an assistant was the one taking orders. The girl rushed off, repeating the message out loud to herself.

Again, Rikki was whisked off to the make-up room. Her eye make-up was carefully removed with an oily substance and a dry cloth took off her lipstick.

With the face make-up already done, the make-up didn't take as long to do. The dark eye-shadow was replaced with a pale champagne color, with heavy mascara and eyeliner on the top lash line. The main focus was on Rikki's lips. A bright red color was carefully painted on them, far bolder than any lipstick she'd ever worn. The red did look good with her skin, though. She'd have to remember that for the next cafe party.

"What color is that?" Rikki asked, pointing to the lipstick.

"Vixen, it's the best for pale skin." Lisa answered. She started working on Rikki's hair, poofing it out in it's natural curls. Lisa put a big ruby clip in it to tame her wild hair.

One of the guys from before came back with a short strapless dress. It matched the lipstick perfectly. Lisa helped her in it and zipped it up.

Looking in the mirror, Rikki thought "vixen" suited the look very well. The dress was sexy and showed a lot of leg. It hugged her whole body, not a style she usually wore. The red lips made the look sultry, not slutty. Again, they decided to leave the locket on. They went back to the same room to shoot for lipstick.

Rikki tried hard to think of new things to do, but they had the same props. She blew kisses to the camera and tried hard to embody the 'vixen' look. Suddenly a burst of inspiration came over her.

"Can I use the lipstick on the mirror?" she asked, grabbing the hand mirror from before and a tube of the make-up. Victoria nodded warily.

In her best handwriting, Rikki wrote 'Vixen' on the mirror in the lipstick. After she drew a heart. With her new prop completed, Rikki used the mirror in a lot of her shots. She hoped the turned out as good as the first ones.

The photographer looked over her shots again. Some were boring, with Rikki obviously not knowing what to do. Other were really cool looking, especially with the personalized mirror.

"Alright, everything looks good." Victoria announced as they clicked through the last few shots. "I'd like to have a word with you, Rikki." she gave a pointed look to the photographer and the assistants. They all scampered away quickly, out of earshot.

"Is everything alright?" Rikki asked. She couldn't read Victoria's expression.

"Oh, yes. We're all very happy with your work today. I just wanted to let you know that if our campaign goes national, we'd really like to have you be the face of our brand. You're diverse, unique. Perfect for _Young_. What do you think?" Victoria said, smiling for the first time.

"Wow, yeah! Of course." she was shocked.

"Good. I'll call your manager if we need more shots. Also, I wanted to know if you have an Instagram, or maybe a Twitter?"

Rikki shook her head slowly. Cleo had been telling her about the social media sites, but it wasn't really Rikki's thing.

"Maybe you'll consider getting one. Trust me, it would really help your career." Victoria said seriously. "And also, we wanted to give you a gift before you go. Michel!" she called to a young blonde assistant. "Get the gift bag!"

A white _Young_ bag was produced, full of all sorts of make-up products. Rikki spotted three different lipsticks, including the two they'd used that day.

"If you do get an Instagram, we'd love to be promoted. If you like our products, of course. I have a feeling you're going to be _big_." Victoria emphasized the last word. Rikki accepted the gift bag, said thank you, and asked where she could change. She was pointed back to the make-up room, which was now empty.

Changing back into her old clothes, Rikki felt like she was going from Hannah Montana to Miley Stewart (She'd seen a few episodes of the Disney show over the years). Her clothes were back to ordinary, her red lips smudged. Rikki the model and Rikki the ordinary girl would not mix. Even the mirror said so.

**I have a family reunion this weekend so I may not update for a while. And a wedding the weekend after that, and senior pictures to take, back to school shopping, working, etc...it's a busy time. **

**Coming up in this story...: Rikki struggles to balance school, modeling, work, her friends, and her boyfriend. She learns the hard way how harsh criticism can be and an old enemy resurfaces...**


	5. 5 Rainbow

Saturday morning Rikki woke up at six o'clock, far earlier than her old Saturday lie-ins. She had the perfume shoot today and was determined to be prepared for it.

She rubbed her eyes, flicked on her lamp, and reached for the bags next to her bed. Rikki had been given a bag of products from Young the day before, and some products from Maureen and Ty at Montgomery. Surely there would be a cleanser in one of them.

Previously, she'd never given a thought to her skin unless she had a big pimple. It wasn't very dry or oily, just regular. To clean it she used whatever was cheapest. Now she had a whole bag of goodies to try out.

Rikki reached into the bag from Montgomery and pulled out a small circular jar. Eye cream. Wasn't that for wrinkles? Who had to worry about wrinkles when they're eighteen? She put it back and grabbed another bottle. This one was moisturizer. She remembered Cleo saying something about the water content being too high to use. But she would already be a mermaid after using the cleanser, so she might as well use that, too.

Finally Rikki found a cleanser, a scrub, and a liquid called 'toner' that was supposed to tighten your pores. She retreated to the bathroom to try out the products.

She started with the scrub, a slightly gritty substance that took off her dead skin. Then the cleanser to, well, clean. The toner she dabbed on with a cotton ball, and the moisturizer she applied last. All of this took a while because she was a mermaid the whole time. She used the tap in the bathtub to wash off the scrub and the cleanser as she was unable to stand and reach the sink.

When she dried off, Rikki turned on all the lights in the bathroom and peered at her skin. It looked the same, except the pillow lines from her sleep were gone. She wondered how much money those products had cost, and they basically did nothing.

Rikki dressed in her favorite black dress and white sandals. After the shoot, she would be going to the cafe to see Bella's performance. She didn't know if there would be time to change, so she dressed fancier than she usually did.

The rest of the morning was like a repeat of the day before. She drove to Montgomery where a car was waiting for her. They drove her forty-five minutes away to the perfume shoot.

From there, things got different fast. She walked into the studio and was overwhelmed with people. There were beautiful girls everywhere, of every color and body type. Surrounding the girls were assistants, make-up artists, and hairstylists. It was insane.

A woman wearing one of those Bluetooth thingies approached her.

"Name?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Rikki Chadwick." she said. "From, um, Montgomery Management." she added.

The woman found her name and put a check next to it. "Alright, glad to have you. When Trisha is free she will do your make-up."

Rikki was directed to a corner where she waited for Trisha to finish applying eyeliner to a petite redhead girl. It was done quickly and Rikki was put into the chair.

Her make-up was simple, and Rikki had a lot of time to look around at the other models. They were all very different. She spotted a lithe Asian girl, two African Australian girls, three other blondes and a couple with tan skin and brown hair, like Cleo. She could tell the perfume ad was going for diversity! Some of the girls were on the short side, others were tall, some were curvy and some were thin. Rikki, with an average height and weight, didn't stick out much in this crowd.

Trisha finished the make-up in less than a half-hour. She had clear skin that was lit from within, pale pink eyeshadow and bright pink lip gloss. Her hair was straightened so it looked much longer than it usually did. Rikki looked like a Barbie doll, exactly the look that she hated. Why couldn't she be the punk-rock blonde like that girl over there?

'That girl over there' actually looked very familiar. Rikki gave her make-up seat to someone else and tried to get a closer look.

Before she could find out who the unnamed blonde was, she was whisked away to a changing room.

The same assistant from before, minus the Bluetooth, shoved a bundle of cloth at her.

"Change as quickly as possible, we're behind schedule and we need to start shooting." the assistant said in an anxious voice.

Rikki obeyed instantly, throwing on the outfit as the flustered girl left. A dress, shoes, purse and a necklace went on before she noticed that everything she wore was hideous.

The dress was shockingly pink, tight on the top and sheer but loose on the bottom. Her chest felt like it was going to bust out of the top, and she wondered if that was intentional. The shoes she wore were also pink, with high heels and a pointed toe. Her necklace was a rhinestoned S, and the purse was a small silver clutch.

Rikki didn't look in the mirror. She knew she would look like a typical dumb blonde bimbo. Instead, she reminded herself of the heap of bills at home, and went to find the assistant.

The girl was waiting just outside. She led Rikki to a different room without a word.

It was obviously the room the photoshoot would be taking place in. Rikki's eyes were wide, trying to absorb every detail.

Models were everywhere; lounging in chairs, talking to each other, analyzing their reflections. The room was a rainbow of colors and ethnicities. It appeared like each girl was wearing a different colored dress. The redhead was in dark green, a dark-skinned girl in sunny yellow. Rikki thought each girl was prettier than the one before, and they all had nicer dresses than hers.

Finally her gaze wandered to the set. The floor was covered in white beach sand and the wall was green, obviously a green screen. Rikki imagined they would replace the green with ocean waves once the photo was taken.

The amazing part about the set was obviously the prop. In the middle of the sand was a massive perfume bottle, triple the size of the tallest girl in the room. It was a clear white bottle with rainbow ribbons hanging from it. A huge pink logo was in the center of the bottle.

None of the other models seemed intimidated by the set. Rikki, meanwhile, couldn't stop staring at it. How were they supposed to pose with something they couldn't even carry?

Rikki found a seat next to a few other models. She glanced at them, and found herself doing a double take.

The familiar blonde from before was back. Rikki remembered her instantly, the most typical mean girl she'd ever met.

"Who let the trailer trash in here?" Miriam asked her friend loudly with a glance in Rikki's direction.

Rikki grinned at her. "I see you're still bleaching your hair. You know, just because your dumb doesn't mean you have to go blonde."

Miriam scowled. "Seriously, how did you get here? Are you shagging the photographer or what?"

Miriam's friend chuckled. Rikki looked at her, half-expecting to see Tiffany, Miriam's former lapdog. It wasn't her, but she bore a striking resemblance to Tiffany.

Rikki was honestly offended. She knew she didn't exactly have the model look, but she would never sleep with someone to get a job. For once she was unable to think of a comeback. Miriam took her silence as a win.

"So I'll assume that's true, then." she gloated. "How does Zane feel about that? Or has he finally moved on to someone a little more...worthy of his time?"

Rikki raised one eyebrow. "Are you seriously still interested in my boyfriend?"

"So you _are_ still together." Miriam glowered. "I thought he would've realized that you're nothing but a gold-digger by now."

Rikki turned up her nose and ignored her old enemy. She knew no response would drive her crazy.

Miriam huffed and left the area, strutting to a water fountain nearby. While her back was turned, Rikki studied the many changes that had happened since they'd last seen each other.

Miriam's hair was now a paler shade of blonde. She looked taller and much, much slimmer. An unhealthy sort of skinny, like a stray cat. It didn't suit her. Rikki knew she'd left the Gold Coast to pursue a modeling career, but she didn't think Miriam would actually get jobs with a personality like that. Then again, she was always good at being a fake.

"All right, ladies, let's get to work!" A photographer called from the set. There were eight photographers in all, each positioned at a different camera. The models made their way over to the set. Rikki was relieved to see that she wasn't the only nervous one this time.

"Let's have pink, green and yellow in the front. Green, you're front and center, pink and yellow on each side." a different photographer said. By 'pink, green and yellow' the man meant Rikki, the redhead in a green dress, and a black girl in a yellow dress. Rikki was positioned next to the redhead girl.

Miriam's brunette friend went next to Rikki, and Miriam went next to the yellow dressed girl. An Asian in purple stood next to Miriam, and a curvy dark-skinned girl in orange went on Rikki's side.

The photographer's continued to dole out models. There were many more dresses, red, turquoise, white, silver, gold, and navy. Some of the girls were hidden behind the big perfume bottle, and only their distorted images would show through the glass and the liquid. Rikki looked up at the perfume, and read "Rainbow" in big loopy letters. The perfume was called rainbow. How fitting.

A female photographer explained what they wanted for the shoot. They wanted lots of beautiful girls fighting to get to the top of the perfume. Rikki warily looked up at the bottle. She couldn't even see the top, let alone climb up to it in stilettos.

"How many of us get to use the ladders?" One model called from near the back.

The photographers deliberated the question.

"Four." one answered. "Pink, black, purple, and orange, take a ladder. The rest of you try to get on the ladders or reach for the top of the perfume. Oh, and you can hold on to the ribbons, but for God's sake don't pull too hard. If that bottle falls we're all fired."

Rikki was still extremely confused about the photoshoot, but didn't ask any questions. A delicate white ladder was pushed toward her, and she climbed up onto it carefully. She towered over the other girls now, but still wasn't close to the top of the perfume bottle. Miriam was also on a ladder, her pretty black dress draping over the sides of it.

The cameras started flashing. Instantly the models sprung into action—literally. They were jumping up as far as the could, struggling to reach the bottle. Somehow they were able to form beautiful poses and show parts of their face to the camera as well. Rikki stretched herself out as long as she dared. The ladder was wobbly and her heels amplified the tottering motion.

Rikki grinned at the bizarreness of it all. Here she was, looking like a Barbie doll next to a giant perfume bottle, just one color in a rainbow.

Keeping the natural smile on her face, she tried to lengthen herself further. Eventually she found her balance at the top on the ladder and started to jump, pressing herself against the curved glass.

Rikki jumped, but this time something went wrong. The ladder wasn't where she'd left it just seconds before. Her shoe twisted and she fell.

As she fell, her eyes stayed open in a dream-like state. She saw Miriam and Miriam's new friend exchange sly glances. The rest of the models kept jumping, determined to reach the top of the bottle. Then Rikki hit the sand.

Although it looked pillow-soft, the sand was actually a barely-there covering for a hard white floor. Her tailbone hit it first, then her head. Rikki was motionless. She waited for the pain to hit her, but she was surprisingly unhurt. She would probably have a big bruise on her tailbone but other than that she felt fine.

"Someone help blondie up." a man barked. The redhead Rikki had been posing next to stuck out her hand and slowly pulled Rikki to her feet. She was a bit dizzy, but still okay.

"You've got a bit of sand in your hair..." the redhead said. "And on your dress." she helped Rikki brush it off. The assistant with the Bluetooth came over along with Trisha the make-up artist.

"I'm fine, I just lost my balance." Rikki explained. The assistant didn't seem to care about her well-being. She inspected the dress for damage while Trisha fixed her hair. Rikki shot death-glares to Miriam and her friend. She was positive that the brunette had pushed away her ladder and caused her to fall.

"Did we at least get some good shots of her falling?" the assistant asked the photographers. They all looked back through their previous shots.

"Take a look at this one." a camera spun around the show an image in the assistant's direction. Rikki looked at herself first. The ladder was balancing on two legs. Rikki was gracefully in the air, one toe pointed and the other leg out. The other models were also in beautiful positions, surrounding the perfume bottle. Many were in the air, either on ladders or jumping, but some were also half-facing the camera and preparing to leap. It was a gorgeous shot, if only the green screen had been replaced with a different picture already.

The assistant looked relieved. "That looks like our shot! Now let's get the girls posing, just in case Melinda wants a different vision."

Rikki dimly remembered that her client's name was Melinda, the woman who owned the perfume company. Trisha finished her make-up and she wandered over to the other models. Miriam and her friend smirked at Rikki. The redhead girl gave her a sympathetic look.

She stuck out her hand. "I'm Lilly, by the way. I heard you're the girl Darren Montgomery found waitressing at a restaurant. Is that true?"

Rikki shook Lilly's hand and nodded. "I'm Rikki. Yeah, that's sort of what happened...I own a cafe with my boyfriend and I served him." Both Rikki and Lilly laughed. "He gave me a business card and it all happened really fast, this is only my second job."

"You're lucky, you've got a good look and a good manager. I started off when I was ten with the _worst _agency, they took nearly twenty percent and booked me, like, two jobs a year. Now I'm trying to model full-time...let's just say I've learned a thing or two."

"Teach me, please!" Rikki begged, only half-joking. This girl had been in the industry for at least eight years, maybe more. She could learn a lot from Lilly.

The two girls didn't have much time to talk, unfortunately. Rikki wanted to invite her to the party at _Rikki's_ tonight. The Bluetooth lady called for attention.

"Someone get rid of the ladders!" she called out before focusing on the models. "Right, we've got our jumping shot. Now we want to get something a little less...wild. So, just pose next to the bottle. Be unique! Be lively, fun, interesting!" she gestured crazily with her hands.

A photographer clapped her hands. "Okay. Purple, you're in the front this time...red and white next to her, pink and green on opposite sides, black next to green, yellow next to pink..."

Rikki was too tired to be annoyed by the fact that her name was "pink" on this set. Her six am start had really drained her.

For another hour, the girls took shots in front of the perfume bottle. After each roll of film (36 photos) the models changed their positions. At one point Rikki was in the very front, and a few times she was towards the back. Her stomach was very loud by the time they were finished.

"That's a wrap!" a manly photographer yelled. "Thank you ladies, we'll be in touch. Lunch is down the hall if you want to grab a bite."

Some of the girls clapped tiredly, but most just grabbed their stuff and headed off to change.

Xxx

"Are you staying to eat?" Lilly asked her after they'd changed. Rikki was glad to be out of that horrendous pink contraption.

"Yes, I'm starving." Rikki said honestly. She could go for a burger or two after the day she'd had. It was after one o'clock and she'd only eaten an orange for breakfast. "Are you?"

"Sure, but I need to watch my weight." Lilly said, poking at her own stomach and sighing.

Rikki stared at her incredulously. "You're so skinny!"

"That's not what my manager says." Lilly sighed. "Oh well, I guess I can have one cheat day."

They walked down the hall with a small group of other models. Many weren't staying to eat, which Rikki found weird. Were they going to eat lunch at all or were they skipping it? She eyed her own body, which she'd never found big before. But if a tiny thing like Lilly could be told to lose weight, what would those people tell her?

Suddenly she had a craving for salad and maybe a long, vigorous swim. Did calories burned as a mermaid even count as weight loss? She really wasn't sure.

Rikki got a chicken Caesar salad and water for lunch. Lilly got the same thing. Rikki decided, then and there, that she was going on a diet. She had to give this job one hundred percent if she expected to get anything out of it.

**As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and thanks for reading this one 3 Just so you all know, I don't think that Rikki or girls similar to Rikki are fat or need to go on a diet. People often look for flaws in themselves, sometimes when they aren't even there. I would imagine being surrounded by beautiful girls would take it's toll on any level of self-esteem. Plus Rikki is a hard working person when she cares about something, so I think she would throw herself into this job to try and get the most out of it. **

**Next chapter: will start right where we left off in this one! There will be a party at the café, and then a re-imagined episode of H2O. **

**I would love to hear your thoughts on this photoshoot, Miriam's return, and Rikki's plan to diet xo**


	6. 6 Complicated

**Part of this chapter's dialogue is credited to Johnathan Shiff and the writers of H2O, particularly the episode "To Have and to Hold Back". Enjoy!**

"So how did you get here?" Lilly asked as she finished her salad.

"I got dropped off. Actually, I should let my driver know I'm done." After the words came out of her mouth, she realized how pretentious they sounded. Lilly didn't seem to notice.

"Lucky! My agent makes me catch the bus. I was almost late." she laughed. "I think you'd like the bus...it's a great way to meet guys. Some of them are eighty and don't have any teeth...but, you know."

Rikki laughed. Before, she'd always found it hard to become friends with someone new, but Lilly was so easygoing and nice that she immediately felt comfortable with her. "Believe me, I know. I've ridden the bus plenty of times."

From there, the girls talked about their loves lives (or lack of, in Lilly's case), their recent photo shoots and their friends. The entire time Rikki tried to ignore the cookie sitting at the edge of her plate. She was still a little hungry, and she loved chocolate, but she'd just committed to a diet and was determined to follow through with the plan. It was a relief when she and Lilly dumped out their trash, and the cookie went with it.

"What are you doing tonight?" Rikki asked Lilly. She had already messaged her driver and he was on his way.

Lilly shrugged, her red hair falling over her shoulder. "An Australia's Next Top Model marathon is calling my name. You?"

"My cafe is having a party tonight. Technically I'm supposed to be working at it, but I get to talk to everyone at the same time so it's fun. You should stop by."

"It does sound fun!" Lilly said. "Maybe I will. Where's it at?"

"The cafe is called '_Rikki's_'." she said, blushing at Zane's choice of name. "The address is 10331 West Ocean Drive. It's almost an hour north of here if you're heading in that direction."

Lilly nodded enthusiastically, her pale green eyes lighting up. "I am, my apartment is about a half-hour that way. So...I'll go home, get changed and meet you there? And will there be food?"

"Sounds good. We have, like, chips and wings and stuff. Mostly juices though." Rikki explained.

"I suppose that's a sign." she sighed, patting her stomach. "Less temptation, am I right?"

"Right." Rikki laughed off Lilly's insecurities. At the same time, she was worried about her own dinner, even though it was hours away. Everything at the cafe was fried and fattening. She couldn't just have a juice for dinner...or could she? Juices were healthy. She knew all about the dangers of not eating, but skipping one meal should be fine.

She and Lilly exchanged numbers and parted ways, Lilly to the bus stop and Rikki to a sleek black Montgomery car. She got in, turned on her iPod, and put all thoughts of debt, dieting, and Miriam out of her mind.

Xxx

An hour later, Rikki arrived at the cafe. It was late afternoon and not too busy, but she hoped that would change once the band started playing. Nate and Lewis were setting up their equipment while Bella and Cleo chatted next to the stage. Zane was on a ladder hanging up lights, and Will was talking to his sister by the counter. Rikki smiled at the familiar scene.

"Rikki Chadwick, in the flesh!" Cleo grinned.

"How did it go, superstar?" Bella asked, striking a pose. "I like the new hair, you should wear it straight more often."

"Alright, I guess. And I'm not sure I like the hair." Rikki approached them. "But you will never believe who I saw!"

"Ian Thorpe!" Bella guessed instantly.

"That one guy from Home and Away...the one with the tattoos?" Cleo said, struggling to remember the actor's name. Rikki shook her head at both of the guesses. Her friends waited expectantly.

"Miriam Kent!" Rikki finally said, mostly to Cleo because Bella had never met the mean girl.

"No!" Cleo gasped.

"Who?" Bella asked at the same time.

"She was this mean girl who used to date Zane. She hated us." Cleo explained quickly to Bella.

"Gotcha. And she was, like, an assistant or...?"

"Another model." Rikki explained. "She looks a lot different, but she still gets that expression like someone just smelled something rotten..." Cleo laughed. "Her new friend was standing next to me, and I was on this ladder, and she made me fall."

"Why were you on a ladder?" Cleo asked.

"It was part of the shoot...there was this massive...it was rainbow themed..." she tried hard to explain the set, but was unable to come up with the right words. "It's a long story." she finally finished lamely.

"Sounds like it." Cleo laughed. "But you're okay? You said you fell."

"I'm fine." Rikki said. "But Miriam won't be."

"Miriam?" Zane had approached their group and heard Rikki's last sentence. "Where?"

"She's a model, apparently." Cleo said.

Zane looked impressed. Rikki scowled. She still hadn't forgotten Miram and Zane's former relationship, and the many times Miriam had tried to break them up.

Zane noticed her not-so-hidden jealousy and pulled her in close. "She probably looked terrible next to you." he whispered.

"Not really. I had to wear _pink_." she grimaced. Zane laughed and kissed her quickly on the cheek before getting back to work.

Rikki wished Bella good luck with her show and took Sophie's place behind the counter. Sophie took off her apron, but stayed to see the band play.

When Bella began warming up, Lilly walked in. For a model, she didn't stick out too much. She wore a ruffled navy dress and black sandals, and had kept her hair in the curls from the photo shoot. She didn't stand out any more than Bella, Cleo, Sophie, or any of the other beautiful girls in the building, although Rikki noticed Nate's eyes wandering to the new girl.

"Lilly, hey!" Rikki called. Lilly walked up to the counter with a grin.

"This place is awesome. It's so...you. When did it open?" Lilly asked, looking at the stage, pictures, and the whole atmosphere in general. Rikki agreed. It was definitely 'her'.

Rikki answered the question and made small talk with Lilly while she made her a juice. Then she brought her over to meet some of her friends.

"Hey guys, this is Lilly. We worked together today, she saved me from Miriam. Lilly, this is Cleo, Lewis, Will, and my boyfriend, Zane. My other friend, Bella, is the one singing and Lewis is going to be playing the drums later."

After Rikki's introduction, everyone said hi. They seemed to get along. Lilly was definitely likeable enough. Soon Cleo was telling everyone about her various singing incidents and how Sam had asked her to sing at the wedding, not knowing how terrible she was.

"I'm starving, how about we get some wings?" Lewis suggested. Rikki's stomach tightened at the thought. She was a carnivore, through and through.

"I'll have a few." Cleo said. "Honey barbeque, please."

"Me, too. And some fries." Will added. Zane got up to take the order.

"Do you want anything, Rikki? 'Cause I'm only getting up once." Zane joked.

She considered it for a moment. Model-worthy abs or greasy, delicious chicken wings? "No thanks, I ate earlier." she said reluctantly.

Zane left to make the food and Lewis went to start drumming, so Cleo, Rikki, Lilly, and Will were left to talk. Will and Cleo got into a discussion about homework, which was actually more boring than doing homework. Rikki tried to focus on Bella's singing, but she'd heard the songs too many times before. There wasn't much else to distract her from her rumbling stomach. Luckily, the noise of the band covered up the frequent growls.

Then Zane returned with the chicken wings, which made it that much worse. The smells were tantalizing and made her mouth water. Why was it that when you denied yourself of something, you suddenly crave it so much more?

Cleo offered to share some of her wings, and Will his fries, but Rikki refused to give in now. It was silly, she knew, but she had to prove herself. She could skip one meal. If she could do it once now, she knew she could do it again later. But they smelled so _good_...

Rikki left the group. She needed to put all thought of food out of her mind, not the easiest thing to do in a cafe. She got herself a bottle of water and a straw and found some work to do making juices for customers. Then she swept, dusted, and did all the other menial tasks that she normally hated.

She returned to the counter to find Cleo sitting by herself at the bar. Cleo eyed the broom in Rikki's hand with skepticism.

"You're doing work now? Emma must've rubbed off on you before she left." Cleo laughed. Rikki did, too. She scanned the cafe and found Lilly and Will in deep conversation where Cleo must've left them.

Cleo looked like she had something on her mind. Rikki made her a juice while she waited. She knew her friend would tell her what was bothering her any minute now.

"Rikki..." Cleo said tentatively. Right on time. "How much do you know about Lilly?"

Rikki shrugged. "Not much, I guess. I just met her today. Do you like her?"

Cleo looked uncomfortable at the question. "I mean, I _like _her and everything, I'm just not sure about her...you know anyone who gets close to us gets close to our secret. I think you should find out more about her before she finds out anything. And also...she's really flirting with Will. And you know I don't usually notice these things, so that's saying something. Lilly's really interested in him."

Rikki was too hungry to fight with her friend. She was tired, too. The day had felt like a week so far, a hundred hours somehow crammed inside of twenty-four. She shrugged at Cleo's concerns. "I'll tell her to back off of Will. I don't think she wants to cause trouble, she just doesn't know Bella likes Will. And don't worry, I'll be careful around her."

Cleo smiled tightly. "Okay. That's good. And stay away from Miriam, too, you don't need to fight on the job!"

"If I see that girl again..." Rikki said wistfully, dreaming of all the ways to get revenge on set. She could set her hair on fire, ruin her clothes, ruin her make-up...the possibilities were endless.

Cleo still looked worried. "Are you alright?" she asked suddenly.

"Yes, why?" Rikki asked.

Cleo peered at her closely. "You just look kind of sick, and you didn't eat much before."

Damn. Cleo always noticed things like that. She could tell when Rikki was getting sick several days before Rikki noticed it herself. Plus she was very, very sensitive about other people's emotions.

"I'm just tired." Rikki said, and gave a very believable yawn. "And I'm sick of all the food here. We should get an ice cream machine or something."

"Maybe you should leave early and get some sleep." Cleo suggested.

"Maybe." Rikki murmured. The idea was actually quite tempting. "Yeah, I think I'll do just that."

She handed Cleo her freshly made juice and strode over to Zane. He easily agreed to let Rikki have the night off, and she sighed with relief. She said goodbye to her friends and left for the night.

When she got home, Rikki lay in bed for a while. It was hard to sleep on an empty stomach, but it also gave her a strange sense of lightness and accomplishment. She did it!

To pass the time, she got online and created a Twitter account. She had no idea what to put in her biography, so she left it blank. For her profile picture she used her favorite picture from her first photoshoot with Montgomery. Then she started following people. She found Cleo's profile easily, followed her, then followed a lot of the people Cleo followed, including Lewis and Bella. Neither of them were active on Twitter, their last tweets being from several months ago. She found Lilly, too.

Rikki followed a few celebrities she liked, Montgomery Management, Darren Montgomery, Young Cosmetics, and even Maureen and Ty. Some people followed her back, so she had about five followers by the time she finished making her profile.

She was strangely excited about getting on Twitter. It felt like such a modern thing to do, like buying a new cell phone or getting Netflix for the first time. She composed her first Tweet about the perfume photo shoot and then closed out of the app.

Next, Rikki did the same thing with Instagram. She had an old picture of her, Bella, and Cleo as her profile picture and followed the same people she'd found on Twitter, with an extra twist. With a bit of searching, she found Emma's Instagram. It was full of beautiful photos of the places she'd visited so far.

Rikki remembered what she'd been told after the Young photoshoot about promoting the brand. She turned on the lights in her room and took a selfie with her bag of products. She posted the photo, allowed it to link with Twitter, and finally put away her phone for the night. It really had been a day of new experiences.

Xxx

Over the week, Rikki was even more productive (in her own mind, anyway). She had booked two more modeling jobs, been retweeted by some important people, skipped at least one meal a day, and even exercised! She had lost almost a kilo, according to her crappy bathroom scale.

Rikki had taken an old present from Cleo, a diary she never thought she'd use, and turned it into a food journal. She felt like Emma whenever she used it, but she kept track of how many calories she consumed and burned. She was very, very strict about it. It felt good to have so much control over something.

However, the diet had been negative in some ways. It was harder than ever to pay attention at school. She constantly worried about her stomach grumbling, and even Zane, who never noticed anything, had commented about how little she was eating. Since then, Rikki took extra care to eat around her friends so they wouldn't notice anything. More than once, she'd hidden food in her napkin to make it appear like she was eating.

Rikki wasn't stupid. She knew that a diet like hers wasn't exactly healthy, but it didn't put her in the danger zone, either. She drank lots of water, avoided fatty foods, and ate a little bit whenever she felt faint. Rikki honestly started to hate food. The smell of it made her nervous and stressed. Once her fond friend, food had become her enemy. It was a scary feeling, but Rikki had it under control.

Xxx

On Thursday after school it was announced that Don and Sam's wedding date had been pushed forward to Saturday. Cleo hadn't been expecting it quite so soon, and Kim took the news badly. Sam insisted that she didn't need a big wedding, but Cleo wanted to make the day special. She offered to arrange everything, and got Rikki and Bella involved.

Rikki got Zane to let the Sertori's use the cafe for the wedding, with the reception inside and the wedding outside. She started setting up for the reception on Friday afternoon, where she got another big surprise: Lewis had received an email from the American Institute of Marine Biology.

"And they want to experiment on you, oh I knew it would come to this!" Rikki said with false joy.

"No, Rikki!" Lewis exclaimed as she joked. "It's a scholarship to study there. Okay, my teacher advised me to apply, and they looked over my application, and...I got in."

"So...shouldn't you be jumping for joy?" Rikki asked. Her nerdy friend wasn't smiling the way he usually would at an opportunity like this.

"They want me to start now." he admitted.

"Like, now, as in...?"

"Yes, right now." Lewis confirmed. "As in, I would fly out on Monday."

Rikki took a long pause. "Have you told Cleo?" she finally asked.

"No..." he said. "I didn't think I should tell her."

"Don't." Rikki agreed.

"But I have to." Lewis argued.

"No, she is going out of her head making arrangements for the wedding. If you tell her now, she will fall apart." Lewis tried to argue, but Rikki cut him off. "No, Lewis, don't ruin this for her!"

Lewis finally accepted Rikki's argument as the truth. Rikki knew Cleo would be upset when she found out, but in this case, it was better to be later than sooner.

Xxx

On Saturday morning, Bella fussed with Kim's hair while Rikki lounged on the couch. Kim and Cleo were the bridesmaids, which Kim was not pleased about.

Mr. Sertori walked in with a surprise guest...Lewis. Rikki's stomach lurched at the sight of him, not just because she hadn't eaten anything that morning. She had planned on avoiding him until the wedding was over and Cleo found out about his scholarship, but that plan was shot.

Mr. Sertori announced that he wanted Lewis to be his best man, and Lewis agreed to be the role. Rikki wondered if it was because Don's friends were all busy, but she kept the thought to herself for once. She didn't have enough energy to be witty.

Just then, Cleo came down the stairs. She looked beautiful in her orange-ish bridesmaid dress, the color radiant against her tan skin. Lewis and Don both complimented her. Mr. Sertori then informed Cleo about Lewis's new role in the wedding. Lewis was doing a crappy job of looking excited about Mr. Sertori's obvious acceptance of him. Cleo noticed his strange attitude right away.

"Hey, are you alright?" Cleo asked. Lewis was silent. Rikki knew she had to cut in.

"Um, Cleo, I don't think we have time for this. We've just run out of hair gel, do you have any more?"

Cleo went upstairs to check and Rikki pulled Lewis into the kitchen.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded softly.

"I can't lie to her." he said as Bella walked in.

"You're not lying, you're selecting the truth." Rikki tried to argue.

Bella added to the discussion. Rikki had told her the day before, unable to keep it a secret. "The trick of it is to just not bring the subject up." she offered helpfully.

"Did you tell Bella about this?" Lewis asked Rikki angrily.

"I couldn't just lie..." Rikki tried to justify herself, but the argument was lost on Lewis. Suddenly her head hurt really, really bad, and that faint feeling was back.

Bella continued to tell Lewis why he should wait to tell Cleo, but Rikki didn't hear a word of it. There was an awful numbness spreading through her body, and then she fell asleep.

Xxx

Rikki woke up on the Sertori dining room table in a panic, with a terrible smell in her nose.

"Told you those would work." Lewis said. "Smelling salts to the rescue...again."

"Are you okay?" Bella said, sitting next to Rikki at the table. She tried to sit up, but Lewis gently held her down.

"I feel weird." Rikki said, her eyes tearing up. She tried to get herself under control, feeling throughout her body to pinpoint what was wrong. She had a wicked headache, her stomach felt tight, and she felt...light. Floaty. Numb. Like if she tried to pick up something, she wouldn't be strong enough to hold it. Rikki didn't tell her friends about any of these problems. "My head hurts." she said instead.

"When you fainted you hit your head on the floor." Lewis explained.

Fainted. She fainted. How strange. "How long have I been out?" she asked, looking around. The room was crowded with people. Cleo, Bella, Lewis, Kim, Don, and Sam were all around her in the small kitchen.

"Just a few minutes, hun. We were about to call triple zero." Sam said, patting Rikki's hand.

"No, don't do that." she protested immediately. She absolutely hated extra attention, especially when she didn't need it. "I'm okay, really."

"She might have one of those...whatchacallits..." Mr. Sertori said quietly.

"A concussion?" Lewis said helpfully. "Yeah, maybe."

"I'm right here." Rikki spoke up. "And I don't have a concussion, like I said, _I'm fine_." And to prove it, she sat up, swung her legs around, and hopped off the table. She added in a little twirl for good measure. "Let's get this wedding started, shall we?"

Rikki's stunt seemed to reassure everyone that she was, in fact, fine, but Rikki secretly wasn't so sure. She had a lump on her head from where she must've hit the ground, and her hands were shaking. But they had a wedding to get to, and Rikki woudn't allow them to delay it.

There were many more challenges before the "I do's" were finally exchanged, but they all managed to get through it. Rikki didn't have control of the entire situation, but that didn't matter so much now that she was in control of herself for the first time.

**I hope you guys liked this chapter! I'm not sure I will include the rest of the events of season 3 (the comet/water tentacle stuff) but I might if I can fit it into the storyline. This was a difficult chapter for me to write so please let me know what you thought of it! Also I want to say again that I don't think Rikki is fat or needs to diet. Her developing an eating disorder is an important storyline to this fic so I really hope it was as genuine as possible, this was how I felt when I had anorexia but other people might've felt differently if they went through the same thing. The next chapter will put Rikki into a new modeling experience...a go-see!**


	7. 7 Go See

**I meant to have this up yesterday! Then I got invited to the movies, which led to an invite to a bonfire, which led to a long crazy night. Anyway, enjoy! xx**

After Rikki's fainting spell at the wedding, Rikki was careful to eat more frequently. No more skipping meals. Instead, she ate in smaller amounts. That made it a lot easier to get through the day. The scale showed that she was making progress, but honestly Rikki couldn't see it. Her thighs looked bigger than ever, her stomach flabby. Hopefully Darren wouldn't notice.

"My shift's over, have fun tonight!" Rikki told Zane, taking off her apron and tossing it over his head. He fought off the covering like a dog, making it look much more difficult than it actually was. He finally untangled himself and wished her luck—she had another meeting with Darren at five o'clock.

There wasn't a lot of traffic so Rikki got to the now familiar building ten minutes faster than she usually did. Friendly faces greeted her. There was her driver, Adrian, Aubrey the schedulist, Debra the secretary, and even Maureen, her first make-up artist. Rikki talked to each of them briefly. They all seemed to know about her success with the Young photo shoot and wished her luck.

Now that Rikki had time to actually look around the place, she realized that she rarely saw other clients there. She'd run into one other model, but that was it. Maybe the place was so big that she would never see her co-workers. The thought was oddly comforting. Technically, those girls were her competition. They were after the same jobs she was. Seeing them in the flesh might make her feel even more inferior than she already felt.

Rikki had to wait a few minutes to see Darren, so she took the opportunity to check her Twitter and Instagram. She hadn't used either app much, although she'd gained a few more followers, some she knew and some she didn't. Young Cosmetics mentioned her in a tweet and a behind the scenes photo from the set, and the Rainbow perfume Instagram mentioned her first along with a dozen of the other models. She now had seventy-four followers on Twitter and a little less than two-hundred on Instagram. (It turned out a lot of her classmates had Instagram. Who knew?)

She stuffed her phone away when Darren was ready to see her. He had his characteristic big grin on his face, and his hair was lightly gelled. She remembered how she'd thought of him when she'd first met him at the cafe—that he was a serious businessman. That image was long gone now that she knew him!

"Hey, Rikki. First I'd like to personally congratulate you on your first two photo shoots! Both clients were very impressed."

"Thank you." Rikki answered, basking in the success for a moment.

Darren studied her again, his eyes traveling up and down Rikki's face. "Smile." he ordered suddenly.

Halfheartedly, Rikki tightened the muscles in her cheeks. She felt like she was taking school pictures like back in primary school.

Darren laughed and clasped his hands together. "Alright, now _mean it_. Loosen up, girl! Pretend I'm a customer who just gave you a hundred dollar tip, or I'm your best friend you haven't seen in a while."

Rikki dropped the phony smile and imagined graduating high school. Then she thought of swimming in the ocean. Finally, she remembered her and Zane's early relationship and how happy she'd always been to see him.

"There you go!" Darren boomed. "Perfect! How much time do you have today?"

"Um...well, I was going to go the movies with my friends..." Rikki said. "Why?"

"Do you know what a go-see is?" Darren asked instead of answering. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.

Rikki vaguely remembered the term from her scheduling session with Audrey. "It's like an audition for models."

"Yes, sort of." he said. "A model—in this case, you—would go to a potential client with a portfolio of your work. You might demonstrate your walk if it's a booking for a runway job, or you would demonstrate your poses. So it's more like a job interview than an audition."

Rikki nodded to show that she understood.

"Anyway, you could go on a go-see tonight if you're up for it. We can have a car drive you over to the casting office and you'd be back here by nine. Do you think you could work that around your movie plans?" Darren said it in a way that implied it was her decision, but it was actually a command.

"Uh...yeah, I guess we could go to a later showing." Rikki said reluctantly. "What is the go-see for?"

Darren brightened at her interest. "I'm not gonna lie, this is a pretty big deal! It's for a car commercial, so there will be some acting involved. You can drive...?" Rikki nodded. "Good! The pay will be around five thousand."

"But I can't act." Rikki protested.

"You also thought you couldn't model." her agent pointed out. "Just try it. If you get the job, great, if you don't, no big deal and we'll stick to modeling in the future."

Rikki shrugged. What did she have to lose? Nothing. What did she have to gain? Five grand. She agreed to the go-see.

Darren handed her a one page script and called for a car. Rikki rose from her seat and started to leave, eager to get the audition over and done with.

"Oh, Rikki...before you go." he called after her. "You might want to change your clothes. And do something about those dark circles under your eyes. Just head up to the fifth floor, you can use whatever you want from the red room and the purple room. I'll tell the driver you'll be a few minutes, and I'll have someone get you some dinner."

Sheepishly, Rikki thanked him and headed back to the elevator. From the red room, she selected a creamy concealer for her eyes and brushed on a bit of blush. She attempted to use eyeliner, but ended up drawing a wiggly black line above her eyelashes. She removed it with an oily substance and a bit of scrubbing. She smoothed down her hair a bit, too. Her make-up was nothing compared to what Maureen or Ty could do, but at least she looked a little more lively.

Rikki went to the purple room and was overwhelmed with the amount of clothes in there. She recognized only some of the labels from magazine ads. Chanel, Gucci, Prada, and Michael Kors were all present.

With a bit of digging, Rikki found an edgy black skirt by some guy named Alexander McQueen, and a simple sheer white blouse with long sleeves. She tucked the blouse into the skirt and appraised the outfit. The black and white combination looked nice with her pale skin and hair. Now for some shoes...

She slipped on a pair of black flats, as well as a big silver bracelet. It had only taken her ten minutes to get this new, sophisticated look. Maybe she should dress like this more often.

Rikki made her way quickly back to the elevator, then down to the lobby. She greeted Adrian with a smile and a wave.

"The car is waiting, Miss Chadwick, as well as your dinner. I hope you like pasta?" Adrian said with a curt nod. The guy was actually really cute underneath the ridiculous chauffeur's cap. He had dark, neat hair and a strong jawline. Deep brown eyes that lit up when he smiled. Rikki shook herself out of the admiration. She had a boyfriend, after all.

"Yes, thank you so much." Rikki said honestly. No need to mention that fact that pasta is full of carbs and she probably wouldn't touch the stuff. But usually, yes, she did like pasta.

The delicious smell of the meal had filled the car by the time Rikki and Adrian got there. Her stomach lurched, uncomfortably empty.

Adrian started driving and Rikki couldn't resist. She scarfed down the delicious alfredo, noodle after noodle. As she ate she felt guilty, stressed, and panicky. She would have to do some serious damage control later on. But at that moment she didn't care.

"Hungry?" Adrian joked from the front seat. His brown eyes glanced at her in the mirror from time to time.

"Starved." Rikki admitted. She ate slower after that. She had never been the most ladylike girl in the world, but she didn't want to seem like a pig, either.

She finished the pasta quickly, every single noodle. Maybe it was just her imagination, but the skirt already felt too tight. Regrets immediately flooded her mind. It was all she could think about.

For a brief, scary moment, Rikki considered getting rid of the food. That's what girls in the movies did, right? They would eat whatever they wanted and then...purge. The idea was tempting, but she had to draw the line. She would not go to that level. She couldn't.

Instead, she started making conversation with Adrian for the rest of the car ride. He was an interesting guy. He was originally from Perth, then he got an internship with Montgomery and moved across the country. It turned out, being an intern basically meant fetching coffee and driving stuck-up models around.

"Not that you're stuck up or anything." He took back his previous comment. "But a lot of them are."

"I believe it." Rikki said as they pulled up to a tall brick building. They had arrived at the casting agency.

Adrian wished her luck and said to call him when she was done. Rikki nodded, her stomach sinking. She was not ready for this.

Another girl—obviously a model—pushed past her and into the building. Rikki followed her lead. The girl went up to a secretary, said her name in a thick English accent, and was told to go up to the third floor. Rikki did the same and was told to go to the second floor.

The elevator doors opened up to reveal dozens of girls, each sitting in a plastic chair and studying the script. Many were whispering to themselves to try and learn their lines. Rikki pulled out her own script and took the nearest empty seat. Unfortunately, she didn't look before she sat. She was directly across from the scowling blonde witch also known as Miriam Kent.

"Are you, like, stalking me now?" she whispered to Rikki. "This is _my_ role. Now scram."

"Oh, please. You're a spoiled mean girl, not an actor. Or a model, for that matter. Just leave me alone so I can learn my lines." Rikki shot back at her.

"If I'm not a model, why did I get booked for Alice Hunter's swimsuit line?" Miriam gloated in a much louder voice. Some of the other models turned to look in their direction.

"Because I didn't want it." Rikki hissed the truth. She remembered one of the first offers she'd gotten, the one she had to turn down because it involved water.

Miriam rolled her eyes and returned to a light, airy tone of voice. "Whatever. You are so not worth my time." she turned back to the script.

In a huff, Rikki brought her own paper to her eyes. Was it really necessary to learn all of these? They could probably bring the script into the audition with them, anyway.

She read through the commercial. It was basic, very straightforward and boring. She just had to explain why the car would be better than any other car, even though it probably wasn't. Should be easy enough. Rikki knew how to pronounce all the car features from her dad. There was no guarantee that she would get the part, of course, but she thought she would have a good shot. She would be much better than Miriam, who couldn't tell a Ford from a Ferrari.

A man, obviously an assistant, came out of a door Rikki hadn't noticed before. "Samantha Argent." he called.

A pretty, tall brunette rose and entered the other room. She looked very confident. Rikki wanted to watch her audition, but the assistant shut the door again.

A few minutes later, it was Brittany Baker's turn. Then Kaitlin Bradshaw. Finally...

"Rikki Chadwick." the man was back. Rikki clutched her script and walked into the room.

The casting room was plain. There were white walls and cheap, fake-wood flooring. A table and five people, three men and two women, were at one end and that was the only interesting thing about the room. Rikki swallowed her nerves and stepped forward.

"Please put your script in the stack," one of the women said, patting a pile of papers, "and begin."

"Oh, I, um...thought I could keep the script." Rikki mumbled dumbly. She was supposed to have memorized it. Why didn't Darren or someone tell her that?!

"Please just set it down and act out what you can remember." the woman said, sounding annoyed. Reluctantly, Rikki put her script in the pile and then stepped away from the casting agents.

"What does the..." Shit. Shit shit shit. She didn't remember the brand name of the car!

She cleared her throat and started over, hoping the name would come to her. "What does the...2014 Marada have that other cars don't?" she spoke in relief. She realized she had been so focused on remembering the script that she'd forgotten to put emotion in her voice. "It has a gas mileage of fifty k's an hour...I mean, fifty _kilometers_ an hour." Rikki corrected herself, recalling that the actual line didn't use any abbreviations. "What other car does that for only-"

"I think we're done here. Andre, call in the next." one of the agents said. "Thank you, you may go." he nodded in Rikki's direction.

"But I didn't get to finish!" Rikki protested.

A female agent leaned forward sympathetically. "Listen, hun, we don't have time to waste. No offense, but you just aren't right for Marada."

Rikki frowned and walked out the door that the assistant was holding open.

"Thanks for your time." Rikki called out behind her in an effort to be polite. At the same time, she was hoping they'd realize that their time wasn't any more valuable than hers, or that of any other girl in the room.

"Well, that was quick." Miriam smirked from her seat. Her glee was obvious. "Cat got your tongue?"

Without a word, Rikki grabbed her phone and stalked out of the room. There had to be a bathroom on this floor. She couldn't make it downstairs.

Rikki sent a quick text to Adrian, looked up, and found the bathroom sign. One minute later, the tears started flowing.

**Just a note: I don't own or have any association with any of the brands/companies mentioned in this story. I make up a lot of names as well, such as Marada, Alice Hunter, Montgomery Management, etc. These names are based off of no real companies or people, I promise! Also, if you guys want to follow my sort of public Instagram account, the username is WannabeeAussie :) I don't post often but I'll follow you back! **

**So, more importantly, how are you feeling about this chapter? Do you think Rikki should give acting another shot or stick to modeling? Also, what do YOU think will happen? If I like your idea, you might find it incorporated into this story! :)**


	8. 8 Breaking

"Rikki...? Rikki!" a voice said, sounding like it was underwater.

"Mmm?" she asked it.

"Wake up, Rikki!" it hissed. She felt a sudden shove on her shoulder and her eyes flew open. "About time." Rikki turned to see Cleo in the desk next to her. She must've fallen asleep in class again.

Another, much stricter voice called to her from the front of the classroom. "Miss Chadwick," her teacher, Mr. Brunner, boomed. "I noticed that your homework wasn't turned in. Could you kindly explain what tragedy occurred that you were unable to complete it?"

Rikki groaned to herself. Leave it to Mr. Brunner to make a big deal about a maths assignment. "I was working, sorry." she explained.

The teacher clasped his hands behind his back like an interrogator on a cop show. "I heard about this job of yours. I suppose if some people don't want their future to require hard work or brain power that's up to them. But while you're in my class, I expect you to do your assignments on time. Detention, after school tomorrow. _No excuses_."

Rikki couldn't resist an argument, especially when she was running on four hours of sleep and an empty stomach. "I hate to argue with you, sir, but modeling requires a lot of hard work. Have you ever jumped on a ladder in five inch heels? Or read a script you barely know in front of five people who don't care? No, because teachers get to sit around all day and correct homework that they assign in the first place."

Mr. Brunner was nearly speechless at her outburst. "I've changed my mind. Lunch and after school detentions for you, Rikki, for one week."

Rikki rolled her eyes and was about to talk back again when Cleo put her hand on Rikki's arm. Her eyes said, 'calm down'. She tried to, but was still flaming mad by the time class was over.

"Well," Cleo said with wide eyes. "that was...interesting."

"He is such a dag...I mean, yeah I should've done my homework, but insulting me isn't going to motivate me." Rikki vented.

"It was really uncalled for." Cleo sympathized. "Listen, I've got to run for biology, but I'll see you at the cafe later. You're working tonight, right?"

Rikki nodded. She had almost forgotten about her shift. "I'm also going to help my dad deal with the bills, so...this should be a fun night!" she said with fake happiness. Truthfully, she was worried about the meeting. She hadn't gotten enough money yet to pay off all the debt. But she had one steady job at the cafe and another that could pay well, and her dad had just applied for a dozen jobs, so they might be able to convince their debtors that they could and would pay off their bills.

Cleo listened to her, but also started walking down the hallway. "Tell me all about it after school! See you later."

Rikki waved and laughed. Cleo was being such a nerd lately—in a good way. It was like their two absent smart friends, Lewis and Emma, were manifesting themselves in Cleo. Side effects of this new development were Cleo constantly testing their mermaid powers the way Lewis used to, and Cleo having a fear of being late to class...but that wasn't too bad, just irritating sometimes.

She tossed her maths book carelessly in her locker and grabbed a copy of _The Scarlet Letter_, which they were reading for English class. She hadn't had the time to read their assigned chapter, but Bella had already told her what happened. Rikki went to her English lesson and put the incident with Mr. Brunner behind her.

Xxx

Immediately after school, Rikki ran home to help her dad. Their debt had been $3,027.63 total. Rikki made $2,300 modeling, after Darren had taken his 8% of the money, and $145 for her few shifts at the cafe. Her father wouldn't let Rikki touch the few hundred dollars she'd saved up in her bank account, although she would use it if necessary. Mr. Chadwick had done a few odd repair jobs around town and had gotten $470 for his services. So, father and daughter combined, they had made $2,915 in just over a week. Not too shabby, but they still needed more.

Rikki helped her dad sort through the bills, ordering them by priority. Electricity, water, and mortgage were top-priority. Cable, wifi and phones were lesser.

They had enough money to pay off all the top-priority bills. Rikki's dad sealed those envelopes with relief. Now the hard part: deciding which of their unnecessary luxuries they were going to keep, and which ones they were going without for a month.

"I don't have time to watch TV, anyway." Rikki dismissed the cable bill. "So that's $54.92 that we aren't going to pay..."

"We need our landline, though. That's how people will reach me if they need a job. But I guess I don't use my mobile..." Mr. Chadwick said. He wrote out a check for the phone bill and stuffed it in an envelope. His mobile phone bill he put on top of the cable bill.

Rikki knew this final decision was hers. Should she go without wifi or a mobile for a month?

"I guess we should shut off the Internet. I have wifi on my phone if I need it." Rikki decided, handing one bill to her dad and putting the other with it's fellow rejects. "And we have about fifteen dollars to spare."

Her dad let out a gruffy, sorrowful laugh. "I suppose it'll be a while until we can go grocery shopping, eh?"

Rikki felt a surge of guilt. Lately she'd been throwing out perfectly good food to create an illusion that she was still eating. "I'll be eating at the cafe most nights. Take the fifteen bucks and buy some hot dogs or chicken nuggets, that should last us a little while..."

Her dad smiled at her. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Rik." He gave her a rare one-armed hug. "You're really going places. You go out there and make your old man proud, okay?"

"Okay." Rikki grinned, feeling stress lift right off her shoulders.

"And maybe now that we're out of the red, you could try giving yourself a break. You've been really tired lately, I don't want you to overwork yourself." he suggested.

Rikki laughed off his concerns. "I'll be fine, but I have to go to work. Bye!"

"See ya." her dad murmured after her, but she was already heading out the door.

Xxx

Rikki walked into a nearly empty cafe and a very anxious Zane.

"We need to talk." he said, a simple statement but the words caused her to worry. Her grabbed her hand and pulled her into the office. Rikki waited for him to start talking, but he dawdled, playing with his gold 'DA BOSS' nametag and the cup of pens on his desk. Rikki took a seat across from him.

"Well?" she asked when the silence became annoying. "You wanted to talk, here I am. What's up?"

"Have a look." he said angrily, tossing her a stack of bills. Bills, bills, bills. Why couldn't people throw her chocolates or money? Honestly, after the number of bills she'd been looking at the past few days she would rather have Zane throwing rocks.

Rikki's eyes widened at the figures. "Zane..." she said slowly. "This is unbelievable. How...? When...? Why didn't you tell me?!"

Zane slicked back his hair the way he always did when he was uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Rikki, I just thought business would pick up. I was going to tell you earlier, but you've been so busy lately."

Rikki brushed off her initial anger at being left in the dark, and instead tried to focus on the real issue. "Okay. Okay, so...we're in debt. A lot of it. And we need money, like, immediately. We need to start making a profit. So the question is, how?" she wasn't exactly asking Zane for ideas, she was just thinking out loud. The last grand idea of Zane's had been a dirt bike race he cheated at. Or was it booking a bunch of screaming kids instead of a business meeting? Either way, his ideas hadn't been great.

"I already asked my dad for a loan...he said no." Zane said oh-so-helpfully.

"No way, no more loans. We can't pay them back! No, what we need are more customers." Rikki said forcefully. The couple thought for a few minutes in silence. Suddenly Zane banged on the table.

"I have an idea. It's genius! Foolproof!" he announced with a big grin.

"What?" Rikki asked warily.

"A beauty contest!" he exclaimed. Rikki was silent and Zane took that as an invitation to expand on his idea. "Picture it...a dozen hot chicks—including you, of course—competing for some sort of prize. We can have some of your new contacts be the judges, and they're bound to pick you! You're the hottest girl on the Gold Coast! And with all the beautiful women comes lots of desperate guys. We'll be swamped! What do you think?"

Rikki just shook her head in disbelief. "Doesn't that sound the slightest bit familiar? Rigging a contest so one of us will win?" she prompted. "Besides, we have nothing to give away."

Zane slumped back in his seat. "I guess you're right...have you got any bright ideas?"

Rikki shook her head. "Hopefully we'll think of something eventually. Maybe Cleo will have an idea. How much longer do we have?"

He shrugged. "However long we can afford to stay open. Our bills are all paid off for the month, so at least a few weeks. There's going to be a concert coming up soon that might bring in more tourists, so we'll have more customers then."

Rikki nodded in determination. "So we have a fighting chance. Let's do this!"

"Yeah!" Zane echoed and smiled. "Couldn't do this without you, you know."

She smiled back at him. Suddenly everyone was showing their appreciation for her, and it was perfectly fine with Rikki. "We're in this together." she reminded him.

Just then, she heard the jingling of beads that meant the door was being opened. Rikki grabbed a few menus and went to serve potential customers, but it was just Cleo and Bella. Rikki got them their drinks and slumped down next to them, finally aware of how exhausted she was.

On average, she'd been getting about five hours of sleep a night. When she wasn't working, she was worrying about money. Rikki had thought that after paying the bills today, she would be able to work less, but now she would be worrying about the cafe instead of her dad.

"Are you okay?" Bella asked. "Did you and Zane get in a fight?"

"No." Rikki answered. "But do either of you have an idea to help us raise money to stay open? We are literally broke."

"Oh no!" Cleo gasped. "Are you guys closing?"

"Not yet." she sighed. "We have a few weeks at the least. Zane and I are trying to come up with some ideas to promote the place, but it's not going too well."

Cleo tapped on her chin in deep thought. "Well...you could put up more advertisements. I know you put up some around here, but you could put them in the city, too.

"Yeah, lots of people come here on the weekends from the city." Bella supported Cleo's idea. "Or maybe when you meet famous people you can invite them here."

Rikki rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to meet celebrities. But that's a good idea, Cleo, we haven't advertised since we opened."

"I can help design them, if you'd like." Bella offered. "You could have a collage of pictures on the top of you and Zane, the Rikki's sign, the ocean outside, and maybe the band. Then the advertisement would go on the bottom."

She nodded. "I like that! Thanks, Bella."

"No problem! So when should we-" Bella started to say and was cut off by a large crash.

The noise came from the next table over, a group of teenage boys who had just knocked several glasses to the ground. The boys laughed and then went back to talking.

Rikki felt a surge of anger and stood up. She walked slowly and deliberately over to the boys' table.

"Uh, miss, aren't you going to clean that up?" one of them said when Rikki didn't say anything.

She didn't answer their question. "When you break something in a store, what do you have to do?"

"You stash it somewhere and get the hell out of there." the leader of the gang joked, and his mates laughed.

"No. You _pay_ for it. So I'm just letting you know that those glasses you broke are going to be added to your bill. And _you're_ going to clean it up." Rikki ordered, letting authority ring through every word she said. Her hands started to curl instinctively.

"Whatever..." the leader said. He reached for his own drink, one of the only ones that weren't on the floor, and flinched away from it immediately. "Hey! It's hot!" he exclaimed.

At that moment, Zane materialized with a broom and dustpan. He realized that Rikki had heated the drink and whisked her away, apologized profusely for her 'rude behavior'. He added that she was 'overworked' and 'had too much sun'. Before she knew it, Rikki was being forced onto the couch in the back room.

"What was that, Rikki?" Zane yelled angrily. "There were two broken glasses, we have dozens more in the back and you know it!"

"Why are you shouting at me? Those punks weren't going to apologize! They should have to pay for the things that they broke! And then they just expected me to clean in up like their personal maid or something, like they're above me because they're the customers! Punks like them get away with it all the time and I'm sick of it!" Rikki ranted.

She expected Zane to see sense, but he was shaking his head. "No, no, no, Rikki! That's not how we're treating customers here. I know you're stressed but yelling at a bunch of kids isn't going to help us at all!"

Rikki folded her arms. "It's not going to help them, either. They need to learn to fix their mistakes, not wait around for someone else."

"Jesus, this isn't a school! We aren't trying to teach lessons about morals, this is a restaurant! What you should've done is ask them if they want to order more drinks, make them pay extra that way."

"I'm getting really, really sick of this Zane." Rikki glared at him. "Why am I always wrong and you're always right?"

Zane took a long, deep breath. When he spoke again he was much calmer. "Okay, whatever, Rikki. But I wasn't lying about the fact that you're stressed. Why don't you...take the night off, get some sleep. I'll have Sophie take some of your shifts so you're not working so much."

"Fine." she grumbled. "But I'm not cleaning up the glass. And you better not offer them free drinks, it's not my fault they broke their first ones." she stalked out of the office, still seething.

Cleo and Bella rushed up to her, asking too many questions at one time.

"I'm taking the night off. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow." she said quietly without answering any of them. With a final glare at the boys who'd caused all this trouble, she left the cafe and didn't look back.

Xxx

Waiting for Rikki when she got home was an ornate, expensive-looking letter with her name written on the front in a loopy gold script. She carefully opened it, afraid to rip the envelope.

The letter was obviously an invitation. On the inside flap of the envelope was a hand-written note.

'If you have any plans for next Friday, cancel them! Everyone will be there. Everyone is dying to meet you. Stop by Mont. any time and we'll find you a dress xo Darren' was the message.

Feeling confused, Rikki pulled out the paper inside. It was an invitation to some sort of Montgomery showcase with a "photo opportunity" scheduled for six o'clock Friday evening. Slowly, she put the pieces together. A photo op would be photographers, maybe reporters, too. Darren said she would need a dress.

Would she be walking the red carpet?

**I've planned quite a few chapters ahead and I've got to say, they're pretty exciting! People seem to want me to incorporate more mermaid drama so I have some of that planned ;) Let me know what other sort of things you would like to see happen and I will try to fit that in, as well. Usually I have an ending envisioned to my stories from the very beginning, but I haven't thought of one yet for this so ANYTHING. CAN. HAPPEN. **

**School, swimming and work will soon create a very tight schedule for me but I hope to be able to write when I can. Leave a review and it'll inspire me! Kisses in advance xxx**


	9. 9 Styled

**So sorry for the late update! It was my first week back at school and I was also working a lot. Then the power went out the day I planned on writing a lot, I got called into work on my day off, etc. :( Also, I just remembered that Alice Hunter, the name I was using for a designer, is the name of the actress who played Tiffany (Miriam's friend) in H2O! I think that name was stored in my subconscious or something haha. Anyway, I have no affiliation with her and that actress is in no way connected to this story. Thanks so much for the many reviews I received last chapter! This one is a bit more lighthearted.**

"Okay, I've got the curling irons, hairspray, and all the shoes I could find in your size." Bella said frantically.

"And I've got the make-up." Cleo added. "You remembered to pick up the dress yesterday, right?"

"Yes, for the hundredth time!" Rikki laughed. Her friends were more nervous than she was for this event. Not that Rikki wasn't nervous,because she definitely was.

With a dramatic look at her watch, Cleo announced: "We have three hours to get you in the most beautiful state we can. Bella, get the shoes. It's showtime!"

Bella giggled and retreated into her bag, returning with four pairs of shoes in white, black, silver and gold.

Rikki's face fell. "Oh, Bella...they're all terrible! None of them match!"

Her blonde friend looked crestfallen until Rikki started to laugh.

"I'm kidding! They're great. I think the black ones or the silver ones would go with my dress." she said. Bella swatted her on the arm.

"Not funny!" she scolded.

Cleo, in turn, hit Bella's arm playfully. "Hey, hands off. Rikki can't have _any_ red marks."

Rikki laughed with her friends. It was good to be getting dressed up with people she knew so well, unlike the many make-up artists she'd met so far on the job. Darren had suggested she hire professionals, but Rikki trusted her friends to make her look okay. With professional products, two capable hands, and plenty of time, what could go wrong?

"So what does your dress look like?" Bella asked, turning on her curlers.

"Just wait and see." Rikki teased. "I think you guys will like it. I must've tried on a dozen looking for the perfect one. There are hundreds in that closet! And when I found it...they just let me take it, no questions asked."

"You know what size I am if you ever want to get me something." Cleo joked.

"I have to return it in a few days. Maybe for the next dance I can get us all things to wear." she suggested. "I wish you guys were coming tonight...I don't think I'll know anyone except Darren. I'm their newest client."

Cleo started patting foundation on Rikki's skin with a make-up sponge. "Don't worry about it, you'll probably meet lots of people. At least _some_ of them have to be nice. What about that Lilly girl? Will she be there?"

"I don't think so." she answered carefully. She didn't want to move her face too much while Cleo was putting on make-up. "She works for a different company. This is just a party for the people who work at my agency."

"Oh. Well, I'm not sure what to say then...have fun? Good luck? Be careful?" Cleo said. "The worst it can be is boring."

"Yeah, I guess so..." she said. She wasn't entirely sure what would happen tonight. Rikki knew there would be photographers and reporters, but would they want to photograph and interview a nobody like her? After that...well, she didn't know. She assumed there would be some mingling and maybe a speech or two. It probably would be boring, especially if she had no friends to talk to.

Cleo and Bella continued to do her hair and make-up, chattering away with each other and her. Cleo had a bit of trouble applying eyeliner and mascara (Rikki kept blinking) but other than that, she was just like the professionals. Rikki ended up doing her own eye-make-up and it turned out wonderfully. Bella curled her hair into loose but styled curls, so perfect they almost looked natural. She clipped a small section of her hair into a pretty silver hair pin. Rikki thought they did a fantastic job!

"Have you guys ever considered cosmetology jobs?" she asked her friends while examining her seemingly poreless skin and perfect hair.

Bella laughed off her compliment. "Okay, so you still have an hour and a half to get into your dress and get to the place. Where is the event being held, exactly?"

She shrugged. "I'm supposed to get myself over to Montgomery and then my driver will take me there. It should be a short trip, only about fifteen minutes according to Darren. So I have a half hour to kill before I have to get going. What should we do?"

"Um, you should probably get your dress out of that bag and show it to us before it becomes your body bag!" Bella exclaimed jokingly (at least, Rikki _thought_ she was joking).

Rikki couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her lips as she flew over to the dress bag and unzipped it. She wasn't usually the type of girl to get excited about clothes, but for this dress she'd made an exception.

"Rikki." Cleo gasped and she pulled out the red fabric.

"It's gorgeous!" Bella proclaimed. "It's so you!"

"That's what I thought, too. My favorite color." she pulled it completely out of the bag and held it up to her frame.

"What brand is it? Maybe it's Sass and Bide! Or Emery!" Bella spouted out, along with a bunch of other Australian fashion labels. She was very into fashion.

Rikki searched for the label. "Oscar de la Renta. Is he Australian?"

Bella gaped. Even Cleo looked exasperated.

"Rikki, Oscar de la Renta is one of the most famous designers in the world." Bella said seriously. "This dress probably costs a fortune! You're so lucky!"

Bella helped Rikki into the dress, gaping the whole time and talking about what a magnificent design it was. Rikki just liked the dress. She had never thought about the designers behind the clothes she wore, but this dress was a masterpiece. Truly a piece of art. Bella zipped up the dress and Rikki looked herself over in the mirror.

The dress poured from her hips in thick, gauzy vertical ruffles. It cinched at her waist, which complimented her figure nicely. The dress was higher in the front and flowed in the back like a wedding train. A scarlet wedding dress, almost. Bella and Cleo gave her compliment after compliment, but Rikki knew that it was the dress, hair and make-up that was beautiful, not her. She thanked them anyway. They helped her into strappy silver heels and Cleo loaned her a small silver beaded purse to put her phone and lipstick in.

"Wait!" Bella called after her as Rikki prepared to leave. "What about the train? You can't just walk out there, the dress will get dirty."

She glanced down at the long train that flowed behind her. "Oh...right. I didn't think about that."

"We'll carry it. And drive you there! I can't wait to see where you work." Cleo offered. Without waiting for her approval of their plan, her friends each grabbed a part of the fabric and lifted it safely off the ground. Off they went like that, with Bella and Cleo following Rikki like handmaidens. Mr. Sertori's eyes bugged at the sight.

"What a dress! Have fun tonight, Rikki." Cleo's dad said kindly.

"Thanks, Mr. S." she replied. Rikki went outside and sped up her pace. Hopefully no one would see her on the way out. It was one thing to wear a gorgeous dress at a fancy event, but it was definitely weird to be seen in one on a regular sidewalk.

Rikki and her dress went into the back of her car, along with a bag of her regular clothes to change into when the night was over. Cleo hopped into the drivers seat, and Bella into the passengers. She gave Cleo directions to Montgomery and she sped off towards it.

Her nerves started to build up on the way there. What if she was overdressed? What if Bella and Cleo hated her coworkers? What if Darren took one look at her beautiful friends and decided he'd picked the wrong girl to be his newest client? The night had so many expectations, and Rikki desperately wanted it to live up to the fantasy she had created in her mind.

Soon they had arrived at Montgomery. The place was swarmed with models in ball-gowns, assistants tapping away at their mobiles, and cars preparing to take the models to the event. Rikki told Cleo to go to the parking lot with the valet, and Cleo obeyed. She was amazed at how the valet service worked.

The young man who worked the valet took their car and went to park it while Cleo and Bella resumed their positions at the back of Rikki's dress. They held it up over the filthy parking garage floor so that it stayed clean.

If it were even possible, the inside of Montgomery was more hectic than the outside. Rikki had never seen the lobby so crowded. She didn't recognize a single familiar face, not even Debra the secretary. She couldn't see Darren anywhere. Just lots of tall, beautiful girls in long, beautiful dresses. Each girl also appeared to have their own personal assistant. Rikki didn't, though. How would she know what to do?"

"Go to the Closet and pick out some earrings, would you? Preferably pearls with a silver setting." a girl said to Cleo.

"Um...what?" Cleo asked, taken aback.

"The Closet. Pearl earrings. Now!" the girl demanded, saying each word slowly and loudly.

"I don't work here." Cleo replied, realizing that she had been mistaken for an assistant. In this crowd, anyone in regular clothing could easily pass as an assistant.

Rikki stood on tip-toe in her heels, looking for someone, anyone, who could help her out. Now that she looked closer, there were a few guys in the crowd. Montgomery also managed actors, dancers, and singers, so it would make sense if there were a few men. Mostly there were just models, though.

"Oh my gosh!" Bella exclaimed. She pointed into the crowd with excitement. "That's Ellie Ferguson! She's in, like, every magazine in Australia right now!"

Cleo also started to look and Rikki hissed at them to be quiet. She needed to think. As she scanned the last section of the crowd, she finally recognized someone she knew.

"Adrian!" she called with delight. She started elbowing her way through the girls with Bella and Cleo trailing after her.

He noticed her and started heading towards her. "Rikki, I've been looking for you everywhere. You look...breathtaking."

"Thanks." she said quickly. "But why were you looking for me?"

He looked confused. "I'm your driver tonight. And doing double-duty as your assistant. Do you need anything before we go?"

"Um...no. I guess not." she turned to Bella and Cleo and said goodbye. They both gave her huge hugs and wished her good luck.

"I'll need it." she told them.

Without being asked, Adrian helped her with her train and directed her to their car. There were dozens lined out outside, all identical. Rikki thought it was such a waste of petrol. Couldn't they all just take a bus or something?

They went to a nearby car, Rikki in the back and Adrian obviously driving. They immediately got stuck behind the other cars that wanted to leave. It had always been hard for Rikki to chit-chat, but luckily Adrian started the conversation.

"So that's a different look for you." he commented.

Rikki laughed nervously. "Yeah, very. It took forever!"

"You should get a lot of attention. I heard Mr. Montgomery has been talking about you to reporters, saying that you're the 'next big thing'. Now, in the dress, you're going to hit every mark. Young, best dressed, newbie, and you actually have talent. Do you interview well? Cause if you do, you're going to explode." he spoke very seriously. He seemed more informed about the media than Rikki was, which was very nerve-wracking. "In a good way, I mean." he added on after.

"Um...thank you?" she laughed again. "I don't know, I've never been interviewed before."

The car inched forward.

"Why don't we practice? I've worked here for a while, been on a few red carpets. Well, next to them, anyway. The reporters always ask the same questions." he offered.

"That would be great!" Rikki asked in relief. Finally, someone was helping her out. If traffic kept up, they would have quite a while to do a fake interview.

"Alright...first thing they always ask...who are you wearing?" Adrian put on a fake reporter voice that made her laugh yet again.

"I have no idea what that means."

"What brand is your dress?" he rephrased the question.

"Oh! Oscar something...maybe Oscar de Juego? No, wait..."

"Oscar de la Renta." Adrian prompted helpfully. Rikki nodded and repeated it.

"Okay, the next would be if you styled yourself." he continued.

"No, my friend Bella did my hair and my friend Cleo did my make-up." Rikki said.

Adrian chuckled. "Are you interested in fashion at all?"

"No."

"Well, I guess that explains it. A lot of models have someone called a stylist who picks out their clothes for them. So, did you pick out your outfit or did you have a stylist?" he explained patiently.

Rikki felt a bit dumb. "No, I picked out the dress myself."

"Good, good. The reporters will think you have really good taste—which you do, by the way. Red is definitely your color. Let me think of the next question they ask..."

So on they went. Traffic was terrible so the car ride took almost a half-hour. By that time, Adrian explained what sort of answers the interviewers would want, what all the fashion questions meant, and how to pose when pictures were being taken.

After the tenth question, Rikki finally had to ask. "How the heck do you know all this?"

Adrian shrugged but his expression changed. "The real reason?" Rikki nodded, so he continued. "Well, I was being honest when I said that I've been to a lot of these things as an assistant. But I also used to date a model, so I would attend them as her plus-one. I got photographed and interviewed with her enough times to know what's typical."

Rikki hadn't expected that. "Who did you date? Which model?"

"Uh...I don't know if you would know her. Her name's Ellie Ferguson. I was actually her assistant before she made it big and we broke up." The words were bitter, but his voice didn't contain any of that. Rikki wondered if this Ellie girl had broken up with him or vice versa.

"My friend literally just mentioned her. I think she's going to be there tonight." she said slowly, not sure how he would take the news.

Adrian sighed. "Yeah, she's usually at these events. We always avoid each other. Just one of those things, I guess."

"I guess." Rikki murmured. "Funny how sometimes you go from talking to someone everyday, and then not talking at all."

He brushed off her slightly sympathetic comment. "It's been a long time. I'm okay with it now. Thanks, though. I appreciate it."

"Why did you break up?" Rikki blurted out without thinking.

"Well...Ellie started getting famous and her whole personality changed drastically. Like, she would do anything to get the media's attention. Dating a driver is not one of those things." he laughed. "She started dating some director right after we broke up."

"Does that happen to most people? If they get famous, I mean?" Rikki asked, suddenly wondering about her own career path.

"To most of the people I've seen, yes. But I'm guessing you are wondering if it'll happen to you, and I think no. If you have other things that are important to you I think you can stay grounded." Adrain explained as he pulled up to a big, classy white building. It looked like a mansion, even bigger than Zane's house.

"Good to know." she said in reply. She nearly had her face pressed to the window as she took in the view.

There were cars lined up to drop guests off. Photographers lined both sides of the drop-off spot, probably hoping to take pictures of some celebrity accidentally flashing the crowd as they got out of the car.

"Nervous?" Adrian turned around and smiled at her. They were the fifth car in line.

"Yeah." she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Very."

"Don't be. Just remember to stay calm, smile a lot, and answer questions honestly if you can. Or just laugh them off if you don't want to answer them."

"Got it." Rikki said. Mentally, she started to answer interview questions in her mind. _Who are you wearing?_ Oscar de la Renta. _Did you style yourself?_ Yes.

Someone ahead got out of their car and the line crept forward. They were the fourth car. Soon, the third. Then second. Before she knew it, someone was announcing her name and opening the door.

Rikki took a deep breath, grabbed the hem of her dress, and swung her legs out of the car.

**Sorry to end on a cliffhanger...obviously, the next chapter will be about what happens on the red carpet. In this case, it will be a black carpet, but y'all know what I mean. If you'd like a visual of the Oscar de la Renta gown Rikki is wearing, go to Google and type in "Blair Waldorf Oscar de la Renta" in the search bar! It's a red dress and it should be in most of the images. I'm very, very inspired by Gossip Girl for those of you who don't know. **

**I'd also like to talk about the recent death of an inspiration of mine: RIP Joan Rivers. Funny, strong, classy lady. I cried so hard when I found out the news. **

**Next update won't be for a little while, I'm working almost everyday this week. Still, please let me know what you like/dislike about this chapter and what you hope to see next time! xo**


	10. 10 Poise

Rikki took a deep breath, grabbed the hem of her dress, and swung her legs out of the car. Instantly, camera's started to flash. Not many, not enough to blind her, but enough to make her squint and be even more nervous. She smiled and started walking.

She felt a bit like a movie star. There were red velvet ropes separating her from the general public. Instead of a red carpet, a long black one was laid out for her to walk on. A few people waved at her as she walked, or held out their hands for her to touch. No one asked for her autograph or anything. She wasn't famous, after all. These people were probably there for Miranda Kerr, who was supposedly making an appearance. Still, it was somewhat nice to have people excited to see her. She heard lots of whispers about her dress.

Rikki waved to or high-fived the people who stretched their hands out to her, and made her way down the carpet. It was difficult with her shoes, and her dress was heavy without someone else to carry it. She heard Adrian drive away and another car pull up.

Abruptly the carpet ended and Rikki met her next challenge: actual photographers. There were five of them, snapping photos of a couple standing against a backdrop. The backdrop was simple, white with black advertisements on it. There was a short line of people waiting to be photographed, and Rikki joined it. She vaguely recognized the girl in front of her from the crowd back at Montgomery, but other than that everyone was a stranger.

Beyond the photo area was a magnificent building that looked a bit like a hotel. There was a man, a bouncer, standing just in front of the doors and checking off people's names on a list as they went in.

The photo line moved forward. Rikki took several slow, deep breaths. This would be over in a few minutes. She would not trip. She would not throw up.

All too quickly, the woman in front of her was finished with her pictures. Rikki watched enviously as she moved forward, toward the bouncer. Rikki moved to take the girls place in front of the backdrop.

"Rikki! Rikki, over here!" a blonde paparazzi man yelled at her. Rikki smiled. Someone knew her name.

The other photographers also started saying her name, and Rikki tried to look at each one of them. She hoped her smile looked real. She hated her fake smile. She tried to remember all of the tips Adrian had given her for poses. She had so much to think about that she almost forgot to be nervous. Almost.

After just a few minutes, the camera flashes died down. Rikki took that as her cue to leave. She pulled her dress out of the photo area and toward the building.

Just before she reached the bouncer, a woman with elaborately styled hair and too much lipstick intercepted her.

"Hi, Rikki Chadwick, isn't it?" she said as a greeting.

"Yes, hi." she tried not to let the annoyance in her voice show too much. She just wanted to sit down and get a water.

"I'm Delaney Barry from _Glam_ magazine, it's very nice to meet you." Delaney said, somehow showing all of her teeth at once.

"Nice to meet you, too." she replied politely.

"Rumor has it that you're Montgomery's newest client. Would you be a doll and do a quick interview with me?"

"Um...sure. Yes. Right now?"

"I have seats set up right over there." Delaney gestured to two comfy-looking chairs, like the folding kind that were on movie sets.

Rikki and Delaney walked next to each other and took their seats. Delaney also pulled a tape recorder out of her designer purse and turned it on.

"You're recording me?" Rikki asked, surprised. The reporter nodded.

"Just so I can accurately remember everything that you say." she explained. "So, let's get started. Darren Montgomery has just started representing you; how does that feel?"

Rikki hadn't been expecting a question like that. She had never been good at expressing her feelings. "Well...it's a shock. I never thought I could model before now. I actually really like it, and Darren is great. It's a big honor."

"How exactly did Darren discover you? There are rumors going around that he saw you in a supermarket!" Delaney laughed.

"There are rumors about me? That's...different. I didn't expect that." she laughed in reply. "I work at a cafe and I served Darren. He told me that he was a modeling agent and he wanted to represent me. I didn't believe him, I sort of thought it was a scam, but obviously not."

Delaney's eyebrows perked up, and she smiled another of those smiles that took up half of her face. "You mean you hadn't heard about Darren before you met him?"

Crap. Had that been the wrong thing to say?

"No...I'm not really into fashion. I mean, I _wasn't_ into fashion." she started to get flustered.

"You don't like fashion? I find that a bit hard to believe!" she laughed, gesturing to Rikki's dress. "That gown is fabulous! Did you pick it out yourself?"

Finally, a question she was prepared for. Rikki smiled tightly and answered honestly.

"Now, you mentioned before that you worked at a cafe. What is it like, going from being a lowly waitress to a model?" Delaney leaned in, like she was having a secret gossip session with her. The tape recorder, however, was a constant reminder that they're conversation wasn't private.

"I wasn't a waitress, I was the co-owner. My boyfriend and I just opened our cafe." Rikki explained with a touch of pride. "It is a bit weird, though. I work a lot, so some days I'll go from waiting tables to wearing five pounds of make-up. I'm not used to it yet."

"Do you think you'll quit your current job when you become more successful?" Delaney pressed.

"No, _Rikki's_ means a lot to me. _Rikki's_ is the name of the cafe, by the way." she added, seeing the reporter's confused expression.

"Oh, fabulous." she commented. "Well, Rikki, thank you for your time. I think this interview will be perfect for our up-and-comer section. I'll be seeing you!"

And with that, Delaney blew her a kiss, gathered her things, and walked into the crowd.

Rikki sat for a few more moments before remembering she could go inside. She stood, stumbled a little bit, and went over to the bouncer.

"Table 4, seat 13" he said simply, unhooked a red velvet rope and let her inside.

If the outside looked like a hotel, the inside looked like a castle. Beyond the velvet rope there was a huge banquet hall, with long tables set with white and red linen cloths, fancy dishes and red cloth napkins. The windows were long arches, and the walls were made of pale gray brick. Many of the seat were filled up, the guests sipping champagne and chatting easily with each other.

Rikki glanced around for someone she knew. She felt like it was junior high all over again, when she was the unknown new girl with nowhere to sit at lunch. Her seat was number thirteen, but the closest seats she could see were marked in the hundreds.

She guessed that there was some sort of pattern to the seating numbers, and she was right. Table 2 was closest to her and the last number there was 101. She found Table 4 and started walking up the aisle, her dress trailing behind her.

Seat number 13 was very close to the front, next to the food and the microphones where she guessed speeches would be made. On top of her plate was a name tag with "Rikki Chadwick" written on it in black calligraphy. Fancy. The seats on either side of hers, however, didn't have a name tag. Name tags seemed to be placed only on odd-numbered seats. Perhaps it was because if everyone was seated next to each other in this huge room, the event wouldn't look quite as popular.

Rikki sat in seat 13 and grew increasingly bored as other models, actors and dancers filed in. She snapped a photo of her name in calligraphy and uploaded it to Instagram. The picture itself looked very fancy, with candles and a flute of champagne in the background.

Abruptly, someone sat down in number 14, the one she thought would be empty. She glanced up to see Adrian.

"How did your interview go? I saw you chatting up Delaney Barry." he asked.

"Alright, I think. I have no idea how she knows who I am, though." Rikki laughed. "I didn't know you were coming to this thing."

"Yeah, I'm your personal assistant tonight. So if you want water or anything, just ask." he replied. "Who did you think all these extra seats were for?"

Rikki laughed again but didn't answer. Of course all the entertainers here would have assistants. Getting water was just _such_ a chore, after all.

Up at the front table, Darren stood up. Rikki hadn't noticed him before Adrian arrived so he must've just taken his seat. Darren gently tapped his champagne glass with a spoon, thoroughly silencing the room.

Darren gave a short, funny introductory speech. He thanked everyone for coming and wished Montgomery's past, present and future top performers the best of luck. He handed a microphone to a woman Rikki had never seen before, who gave a similar but longer speech about the many successes Montgomery had over the past year.

Darren spoke again and then invited table 1 to go to the food table and get their meals. Rikki's stomach protested as she realized table 4 would most likely be last in line for food. Her dress felt a bit tight, but she hadn't eaten much all day. She felt like she had earned a cheat day after the two weeks of dieting she'd already been through.

It felt like it took ten years to get to table 4, but eventually it happened. Rikki was almost first in line and loaded her plate up with delicious foods: lasagna with seven different types of cheese in it, prime rib, shrimp and a few German chocolate truffles.

As she turned around with a heaping plate of food, the self-consciousness kicked in. Here she was, at a fancy event, surrounded by skinny models, and she was about to eat two day's worth of calories. Her hunger was instantly replaced by a nauseous, guilty feeling.

Rikki ignored the open bar and returned to her seat. There was nowhere to hide all this food, except perhaps her cloth napkin. But there were so many people here...should she risk it?

She decided not to hide the food, and instead focused on cutting it up on her plate. She ate a bit of the lasagna and threw the truffles in her purse—her dad would like them. She also sampled the chicken and shrimp, which were delicious, but in the end she only ate about one-forth of the original amount of food on her plate.

Looking around, almost every other guest was done with their meal. Rikki described her interview to Adrian, and he thought she answered the unexpected questions pretty well.

When Rikki thought back on her interview, she realized that she had talked about the cafe a lot. Maybe, if the interview was every published, that would help get to word out about _Rikki's_. Zane would be pleased.

Darren clinked his glass again and regained the crowd's attention.

"Now that we're all wined and dined," he joked, and the guests all laughed, "I'd like to introduce our clients—the future top models, actors, dancers, and singers in Australia!"

Darren produced a list and began calling off names, included little snippets of information about each client as he went. He got to the C's and Rikki waited for her name to be called nervously.

"Our next client is someone I see going very, very far in the industry. I discovered her myself while she was working at a trendy little cafe on the Gold Coast. She booked three jobs in less than a day, and I'm sure you'll see why when I call her up here! Let's get a round of applause for our newest model, Rikki Chadwick!" Darren announced.

Rikki got to her feet, flushing slightly at her introduction. Was it just her, or did her's seem longer than everyone else's? Her applause also seemed to last longer than the name's that had been called before hers.

She went up to the front, smiling, and stood next to the other clients. About two dozen other names were called after hers, a few boys but mostly girls. Rikki clapped loudly for each one of them. Back at table 4, Adrian had taken her phone and was snapping pictures of her. She smiled brightly. This was actually quite fun.

When the last name was called, Darren raised his glass.

"Let's toast to the future success of our very talented clients!" All across the room, guests raised their glasses and drank before erupting into applause. Rikki and the other clients dispersed into the crowd.

Now that the meal was over, the drinking started. There was a ten minute wait to get served at the open bar and everyone had a glass in their hand. Rikki sipped out of her original champagne glass, but she didn't like alcohol much.

"Rikki! Just the girl I was looking for!" Darren's voice boomed from behind her. Rikki turned around to see Darren and his entourage, a man and woman who both oozed richness. "Everyone is dying to meet you."

"Yes, it's a pleasure." a young woman extended her hand to Rikki, who shook it. "I'm Erica King, I'm a designer."

"Nice to meet you." Rikki said.

"Erica is looking for a new model to do some print ads for her new designs." Darren explained. "I told her about you and she's very impressed."

"Thank you." Rikki said to Erica and blushed a little.

"I really am." Erica said graciously. "I don't even know if I'll have a go-see at this point, you're really the best candidate! Do you think you'd be interested?"

"Yes, definitely!" Rikki exclaimed. There was something she liked about Erica. She seemed like a genuine person.

"Fantastic!" Darren beamed. "So just get in touch with me whenever you'd like to set up a meeting." he told Erica and slid her a card. Erica smiled at her before she left, tucking the card in her purse.

Darren turned back to Rikki, still smiling brightly. "Honestly, hun, you couldn't've made a better impression tonight!You got the media's attention, you're sure to be on all the best-dressed lists...the fashion world is going to be buzzing about you. I also have an interview offer, if you want to do another tonight."

"I don't know, the last one felt more like an interrogation than an interview." she laughed, trying to describe the way Delaney had fired her questions.

Darren and the man with him both laughed at that. "What if I promised you that the interviewer would work with you to form your image?"

Rikki nodded. "Yeah, I'll do another one then."

"Well then, Rikki, meet your interviewer! Darren gestured to the man next to him. He was on the taller side and was perhaps thirty-five. He looked nice, with lots of laugh lines and a red bow-tie. "This is my partner, Jacob. He's an editor for a popular fashion blog."

Jacob held out his hand and Rikki shook it. They exchanged smiles and 'nice to meet you's.

"I'm ready to start the interview now, if you'd like." Jacob offered. "I'll just ask you a few basic questions and then a bit about your career, if that's okay."

"That sounds perfect." she said. "Where should we go?"

"Uh..." he quickly glanced around the room. "Maybe the front table? It's empty. Plus I'll get a good shot of us together with all this action in the background.

Rikki agreed and the two made their way up to the front of the room, where she stayed for the rest of the night: first, for the interview, then for an impromptu photoshoot with Jacob and his photographer, then a long conversation with Darren, Jacob, Erica King, and some of their friends.

By the end of the event, it was past twelve o'clock and everyone was drunk except Rikki. She was, however, in a pleasant state of bliss that was similar to being intoxicated, but she wouldn't have a hangover the next morning.

She was drunk on her own euphoria.

**I should be able to update sooner this week, I'm getting my wisdom teeth out on Thursday so I'll have a very long weekend to recover and write. What did you guys think of this chapter? Do you like the way that Rikki is changing or do you think that overall her change is negative? I'm really really interested to know your thoughts so detailed reviews are appreciated! :)**

**The next chapter will show the impact of Rikki's interviews and it might be shorter than usual. **


	11. 11 Headliner

**First I would like to thank you all for so many honest, thoughtful reviews! I've taken all your opinions and suggestions into consideration and I hope you all like this chapter. Personally, I didn't think that Rikki had changed too much, and half of you agreed with me and the other half didn't. So anyway, this chapter gets back to some of the roots of H2O: friendship and mermaids! Also for those of you wondering, my surgery went very well. I've been eating ice cream and pudding for the past few days and I finished this chapter quite early. If you like to read stories about weird ships, check out my new one-shot _The Wrong Goodbye_, which is about Emma and Zane together! It's a one-shot for now, but I might turn it into a story later if people want me too. I'm sure you don't really care about all of this so without further ado...**

"I brought _the Notebook_." Bella announced the moment she walked through Cleo's door.

"Not again!" Rikki groaned. Bella always brought _the Notebook_, and ended up crying so hard that she wasn't any fun by the end of the night.

"It's a classic." Bella protested.

"Why don't we watch a horror movie? Or a comedy! Cleo, check if _Stepbrothers_ is on Netflix." Rikki suggested.

"Ugh, no, that movie is so dumb." Bella complained. "I could go to a video store and rent _Grease_."

Rikki was about to say she was allergic to musicals when Cleo got between them. "Why don't we settle for a romantic comedy? I have _50 First Dates_ in my room."

Both Rikki and Bella agreed, and Cleo dashed upstairs. She came back moments later, extremely excited about something.

"Guys." she said seriously. "I found the perfect movie in Kim's room. You know what? I'm not even going to tell you what it is. We're just going to watch it. Rikki, make some popcorn, would you?"

Rikki and Bella got up and went to the kitchen, Rikki to make food and Bella to get some drinks while Cleo popped in their mystery movie. When they returned, the screen showed two girls huddled together on the beach.

"Ohmygod!" Bella exclaimed. "This movie is so cute!"

Rikki was clueless. She eventually spotted the DVD case near Cleo's knee.

"Aquamarine?" she read aloud. "That...mermaid movie?" All three girls started laughing. The laughs continued as Sara Paxton made her debut in a ridiculous blue tail, called to the ocean on a "shell-phone" and wore real starfish as earrings.

"What did I just watch?" Rikki asked jokingly as the credits started to roll. Her friends laughed.

"It was Kim's favorite movie when she was little, I thought you guys would like it." Cleo giggled.

"I remember seeing it in theaters." Bella said. "I lived in California at the time. I begged my mom to let me get blue streaks in my hair."

Rikki laughed, although she'd seen far worse things than blue hair. Blue lipstick, for example. There had been a model with blue lips at the Montgomery event and she looked like the Ice Queen from _Narnia_.

It had been exactly one week since she'd made her red carpet debut. Her life went back to normal very quickly after that. Rikki had gone to school, worked at the cafe, swum with her friends and gone to a few go-sees. Several weeks ago it had seemed like a wild ride, but right now Rikki was just coasting. Her hectic life was reaching a plateau and that was okay with her.

Bella and Rikki were still hungry, so they went back to the kitchen to get more snacks. Rikki made three smoothies while Bella, who was a surprisingly good cook, started to make brownies.

It was that time of night where Rikki tended to make bad decisions. This, binge eating unhealthy food, was probably one of them. But the more Rikki tried to continue her diet, the more tired she became of it. Her food journal took up time that she really couldn't spare. She hadn't lost any weight in a week. So really, why bother? She had never cared about her weight before and she'd been a much, much happier person. Rikki just had to not let her modeling job get to her. She wasn't in it for the long run. It was a part-time job to raise some money, not a career. It couldn't interfere with her relationships, and especially not with her health.

Rikki took the last handful of popcorn and popped it into her mouth. Delicious. She expected to feel guilty after, but she didn't. Instead, she was experiencing a familiar old feeling: being satisfied. She was having fun with her best friends on a Friday night, and her worries were out of her mind for now.

But the world of modeling, which fueled many of her concerns, wouldn't be out of her thoughts for long. Bella had just finished mixing the brownie batter when Cleo came into the kitchen reading something on her phone.

"The Montgomery Management gala showcases Australia's most talented: see all the fashion looks here." she read off loudly. Rikki blushed.

"Oooh, let me see that!" Bella dropped her whisk and ran over to Cleo. Rikki warily got in sight of the phone screen, as well.

"Ellie Ferguson...Kate Monroe...Alayna Mitchell...Rikki!" Cleo flipped through the pictures, going back when she saw Rikki in her red dress. "New recruit Rikki Chadwick in a classic Oscar de la Renta gown. According to Beyond the Curtain blog, Rikki is in talks to be the National face of _Young Cosmetics_." Cleo read, squeezing Rikki's shoulder tightly in excitement.

"Rikki! This is amazing!" Bella said. "Are there any other articles about her? How does Beyond the Curtain know about you?"

"You've heard of it?" Rikki asked. That was the name of Jacob's blog, the one Rikki had done an interview with last week. She didn't know it was popular.

"Yes, it's great! And you're on the site?" Bella was already pulling out her mobile and opening the website. Rikki's interview was the second most recent article, with the cover photo being a picture of her in front of the front table at the Montgomery event. The scene behind her was what had made the photo so interesting. It was absolutely hectic, with all the guests laughing and talking and looking awesome.

"The guy who runs the website, Jacob, is Darren Montgomery's boyfriend. So he set me up with an interview." Rikki explained.

The article loaded, and Bella started reading. It was entitled, "A Rebel _With_ a Cause" by Jacob White.

'If you met model Rikki Chadwick in the grocery store, chances are you would think she's the most down-to-earth Gold Coast girl you've ever met. At least, that was my impression of the newcomer. Although she's wearing a stunning Oscar de la Renta gown, she tells me her hair and make-up was done by her teenage friends. Although she is only 168 centimeters tall, everyone is agreeing that she's the next big thing.

I had the chance to interview her at her very first red carpet event, the annual Montgomery Management gala. Despite the fact that she is new on the scene, Rikki is certainly taking the modeling industry by storm. With a local make-up campaign and a national perfume ad under her belt in just two weeks, she is set to be a real mover and shaker in the upcoming months.

Jacob: So, Rikki, how would you describe yourself?

Rikki: Well, I have blonde hair, I'm a bit pale...I like my eyes a lot, they're blue.

Jacob: Yes, they definitely are! I was actually talking about your personality, what you enjoy doing and what drives you.

Rikki: Oh, right. (laughs) I can be a bit brash sometimes. I don't often think before I do things. I'm pretty easygoing, I don't like to be stressed. Lately, I've been working a lot, but when I'm not I love to listen to music and hang out with my friends. As for what drives me...I really don't know. I have ambitions like everyone else, but I never though modeling would be one of them! I was in a tight situation before I met Darren, my agent, so modeling really helped me through that.

Jacob: What sort of tight situation, if you don't mind me asking?

Rikki: It's a bit personal...just some money issues.

Jacob: So modeling wasn't your first choice of a career?

Rikki: No, I was considering University or being a business-woman.

Jacob: I've heard you're already quite the business-woman!

Rikki: Yes, I co-own a cafe. We've just recently opened.

Jacob: And how old are you?

Rikki: (smiles) Eighteen. I'm still in school.

Jacob: Incredible! Good luck with your cafe, I'll stop by some time.

Rikki: I'd like that!

Jacob: Now, let's get back to modeling. Your discovery was by chance. Your agent saw you at your restaurant and wanted to give you headshots. What was that like? Did you realize that you were experiencing every teenage girl's dream encounter?

Rikki: No...personally I think it's a bit unfair to all of the other models out there, you know? I have a new friend who has been modeling since she was ten years old, and she's had to fight for a good agent and bookings. It's a bit ironic, I think. I've never been into fashion or modeling, and this happens to _me _of all people!

Jacob: Now that you have a few photoshoots under your belt, how do you feel about modeling now?

Rikki: It's a lot harder than I thought it would be. All the fashion labels and make-up labels are trying to be different these days. It's not enough for them just to have a pretty girl wearing their product. They advertise in some pretty crazy ways, and there is a lot of competition!

Jacob: What's your craziest modeling experience so far?

Rikki: Maybe the people? The people are all really fun, and most of them are nice, but some people think they can get away with anything. Or they think that if no one else is wearing something, then it must be trendy, which is weird. I don't think clothes have to be constantly changed in order to be fashionable.

Jacob: So how would you describe your personal style? And could you tell us about this stunning dress you're wearing?

Rikki: My personal style is very...tomboy. I like Converse, I like red and black. I have blonde hair and blue eyes, so I often get lumped into all these stereotypes about blondes. I try to get as far away from those as I can. Except on special occasions, like tonight. I like to dress up sometimes. This dress was lended to me, I love the color.

Jacob: You look fiery. A real it-girl.

Rikki: An it-girl? (laughs) I wouldn't say that.

Jacob: Then what would you say you are?

Rikki: I don't know...a fluke?

Jacob: (laughs) You think it's an accident that you have become a model?

Rikki: Oh, yes. I'm very grateful for the opportunity but I'm the last person I ever thought would be a model.

Jacob: So now that your future has been rewritten by this career, where do you see yourself going in this industry?

Rikki: I would like to do more photoshoots. I like the ones where I get to be creative. I have a few projects lined up that sound very cool.

Jacob: Are you allowed to talk about them?

Rikki: Yes, I think so. They aren't quite set-in-stone but _Young_ has asked me to do another photoshoot with them, and I just met a designer, Erica King, who I might do some print ads for. I think my manager has some other things lined up but we haven't discussed them yet.

Jacob: Well, best of luck with all of those! It's been lovely, Rikki.

Rikki: Yes, a bit nerve-wracking though. (laughs) Sorry.

Jacob: (laughs) I can imagine! Hopefully we'll be seeing more of you soon.

_To see more of Rikki, view our slideshow at the top left or follow her on Instagram and Twitter: RikkiChadwick _

Bella, Cleo, and Rikki stood in silence for a moment. Then her friends started squealing excitedly.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us!" Bella yelled, hugging her. "And, ooh, look, fifteen comments!"

Rikki took Bella's phone and scrolled down to the comments section. Her friends gathered on each side of her shoulder.

"This bloke thinks you're just pretending to be down-to-earth." Cleo said with a frown. "How rude!"

"But this girl thinks you're lovely, she's seen the _Young_ ads." Bella pointed to another comment.

Rikki read each one with her friends discussing them behind her. The negative ones seemed to be in bold, and the nice ones in fine print. There were more kind comments than mean, but each one pierced her. She had been bullied before, but never like this. She couldn't even respond.

"Bella, reply to that guy and tell him he's a jerk. Rikki does _not_ have a flat nose." Cleo said indignantly. Bella grabbed the phone from Rikki and tapped at the comment section.

Rikki laughed off the comment, but secretly wondered if she did have a flat nose. "Come on, guys, I don't need you to defend me to a bunch of no-lifes. Let's watch another movie. Or do karaoke!"

"No way, this is exciting. Did you do any other interviews?" Bella asked, forgetting about the rude commenter altogether.

"One other...with some magazine I've never heard of called Glam." she said.

"I think I have." Cleo piped up. "It's a gossip magazine. It comes out once a month. Maybe you'll be in the next issue! Although I'm not sure what they'd have to write about you, Rikki..."

Rikki thought back on her interview with Delaney. "I did say that I'm not interested in fashion...think they could do anything with that?"

Bella shook her head. "Nah, that'd be a pretty boring story. I just shared your interview on Facebook, everyone's going to love it."

Rikki rolled her eyes. "Can we get back to having fun now?"

Her friends laughed at her typical attitude, and there was no more talk about anything modeling related after that. The girls watched another movie, Skyped with Lewis, and tore apart Cleo's kitchen in their attempts to cook. It was one of the funnest night's she'd had in a while. Rikki decided she'd much rather be here, with her best friends, than at some fancy gala. This was where she really belonged.

Xxx

Rikki had to get up early-ish the next morning. She had another photoshoot with a jewelry company. She was careful not to wake up Bella and Cleo while she prepped her face for the day and snuck out of the house.

She made the drive to Montgomery very quickly. There was little traffic at 8:30 on a Saturday morning. Adrian was waiting for her right outside the building.

"Hey." he said and yawned. "Ready to go? I want to get out of here before this storm starts."

"Storm?" Rikki perked up. She looked at the sky. Sure enough, it was ominously gray. Without another word, she got into the back seat of the car.

Adrian followed suit, getting into the drivers seat and buckling up. "I don't like storms, either. They freak me out."

"Yeah...me, too." Rikki said. She wasn't exactly afraid of storms, but she needed some excuse to cover up her weird behavior. "How far away is this shoot?"

"Not too far. On a day like this, we'll make it there in twenty minutes." he replied. They started talking about their past week and easily filled the time with conversation. Adrian was so easy to talk to, definitely one of the best people she'd met so far on the job.

The storm was just about to start when Adrian pulled up to a classy-looking jewelry shop. Rikki thanked him for the ride and dashed into the store.

"Rikki Chadwick?" a grey-haired man, perhaps sixty years old, greeted her. Rikki nodded. "Nice to meet you." they shook hands. "I'm Ezekiel Banks, welcome to my store."

She hadn't realized she would be meeting the owner. This particular jewelry company was quite famous in Australia. It had stores in almost every major city, and some abroad. Rikki was going to be paid quite well for this photoshoot and would be featured in the stores all over the country and online. "It's lovely."

Looking around, she realized it was true. The marble counter tops, shining necklaces, and granite floors all combined to create a sophisticated, classy atmosphere.

"It's great to have you here, I'm very pleased to have such a beautiful girl modeling my designs. Let's meet the photographer, and then we'll send you to hair and make-up." Ezekiel said in a gentle, grandfatherly voice. Rikki liked him immediately. He reminded her of Max, old man mermaid expert.

The photographer was a woman, who was very pretty for an older lady. She also oozed class and sophistication, the type of person who would wear pearls grocery shopping.

"How do you do?" she asked Rikki. "I'm Gabrielle Chavoy."

"I'm great, thanks, and yourself?" Rikki said, sounding uncharacteristically polite.

"Very good, very good..." Gabrielle murmured. She appraised Rikki and seemed to approve of her. "Ezekiel, could you tell Roberto to do soft waves and bright eyes for the emerald shoot?"

Ezekiel nodded, and motioned for Rikki to follow him. He led her to a smaller back room where the make-up artist was.

His name was Robert, and he was very skilled. He had Rikki transformed from a tired teenager into a pretty siren in less than a half-hour. Her face was kept flawless and pale, with nude lips and just a touch of brown eye-liner to make her eyes pop. Her hair was put into soft waves. Rikki really liked the natural look.

She was given a black cashmere sweater dress to wear, and a clean, private room to change in. Rikki decided this was one of her favorite shoots so far, and it hadn't even started yet!

The finishing touches were the jewelry. She was adorned with a beautiful emerald and gold statement necklace and matching earrings.

The shoot itself was rather boring, but it went quickly. She did a few shots with the emeralds, then a big pearl bracelet. Her hair was put into an updo to show off gorgeous aquamarine earrings.

Rikki's favorite piece was a beautiful ruby and diamond ring. It fit her perfectly, and it was the perfect combination of edgy and delicate. It was a silver setting, with tiny rubies and diamonds set all across the band. It matched Rikki's locket perfectly. She complimented Ezekiel on all the jewelry she wore. He told her he hand-made some of the pieces himself.

Altogether, the photoshoot took two hours. Gabrielle and Ezekiel kept her entertained with lots of stories, and they always gave her instructions on what they wanted to see so they could get the perfect photo very quickly. She rarely had to change her hair and make-up, and the clothing she wore was always simple and elegant. Rikki felt like she had flashed back in time to the Marilyn and Audrey years. It was a strange but pleasant experience.

At the end, Ezekiel presented her with a small gift bag. Inside was the ring she'd been admiring. Rikki hugged the older man and thanked him for everything. He complimented her modeling skills and said he'd love to have her again. Rikki was really, really touched.

She changed slowly when it was time to leave. The storm was still pounding outside, sending her into a slight panic. At this rate, she would be a fish before she made it to the end of the street, let alone the car.

She carefully removed her make-up and hung up her clothes before slipping on her original outfit of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. The rain seemed to be dying down. Luckily she had worn sneakers and not flip-flops, so she could avoid the water that was sure to be puddled on the ground.

Finally, the last droplets of rain hit the roof. Rikki sighed in relief. She could get out of here with two legs. She grabbed her gift bag and went back to the store.

Adrian was waiting for her in the front of the shop.

"Sorry I took so long." she said. Adrian smiled.

"No worries. At least now we won't get wet. I got a chance to look at your photos, too, they turned out really well." he replied easily.

Rikki told him about the shoot and how nice Ezekiel and Gabrielle had been as they walked outside. The weather was rapidly improving. Already the sun was poking it's way through the clouds.

She skirted around a big puddle as they made it to the sidewalk. Rikki found herself watching her feet, when she should've been watching the road.

Out of nowhere, a big bus came along. Rikki didn't even notice it...until it ran it's tires through a big puddle, sending a wave of water all over Rikki and Adrian.

The first few seconds she did nothing but panic. Frantically, she looked for somewhere to hide, but there was nowhere. Her time was running out. The only thing she could think of was to get to the car as quickly as possible. Rikki sprinted to the back door and flung it open, leaping inside and slamming the door in one swift motion.

Her mind raced. Should she lock the doors and hope Adrian wouldn't peek through the windows, or should she start drying herself off right now?

Rikki chose the latter and stretched out her hand into a fist. Her soaked jeans started steaming as the door opened...

She wasn't quick enough. Her body morphed as Adrian slammed the door. "So much for not getting..._holy shit_."

**So what do you think?! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! First of all, Aquamarine :) then this cliffhanger! The next chapter will carry on where this one left off, so review, review, review xx**


	12. 12 Explanations

**Quick shoutout to H2o42, also known as h2ojaw_official on Instagram! She is so supportive of this story and really inspires me to update! Plus she made a beautiful ad for this story. Check out her page! Thank you for everything! **

"Holy _shit_! Rikki...what?! What happened!" Adrian exclaimed, his eyes wide. Rikki cringed. Not even Zane had reacted like that when he found out Rikki's secret.

"Shhh!" she hissed. "Please, Adrian, I can explain...just turn away for a minute, would you?"

Reluctantly, with a scared expression on his face, Adrian turned to face the window. Rikki stretched out her hand and quickly started evaporating the water on her tail. In seconds, her legs reappeared.

"Okay, you're good." she told him. He turned around, and his eyes got even wider when he saw that she was back to normal.

"What was that...? How did you...?" he sputtered.

"I promise I'll explain later." Rikki said earnestly. She wondered if she would get out of this situation with a lie...or if she would actually tell Adrian the truth. Or most of the truth, anyway. "Can we go somewhere more private?"

"Uh...yeah. Sure. Want to get lunch?" Now that Rikki was back to normal, Adrian seemed to be calming down. Rikki nodded and he started the car. For once, the ride was silent. Adrian occasionally glanced back at her in his mirrors, probably expecting her to turn into a fish again. Rikki used her time to plan out exactly what she would say to Adrian to convince him that she wasn't a freak.

Adrian took her to a small Greek cafe that had no other cars in the parking lot.

"Are you sure you want to be alone with me?" Rikki joked. He shot her a withering look.

"Please don't joke about this. I only want the truth." he said seriously. Rikki bit the inside of her cheek, struggling to stay calm. She let herself out of the car and walked with Adrian inside of the restaurant. She noticed that he was careful to keep his distance from her. That kind of hurt her feelings.

The cafe was very quaint. It wasn't a place Rikki would usually go to, but it smelled nice and looked very cool. It was Mediterranean themed, with little olive branch carvings on the walls and paintings of Greek gods and goddesses for decoration. Adrian picked out a corner table underneath a painting of Aphrodite.

A short, energetic man came to take their drink orders. Adrian also ordered something called "calamari" as an appetizer.

When they were alone again, Adrian gave her a long, studying look. "Please explain."

"Okay." Rikki said slowly. The words she'd practiced in her mind on the way there seemed to disappear. "Well...it happened a few years ago. I'm not going to give you every detail, so please don't ask me to."

He nodded.

She sucked in another breath and began. "A few years ago I was turned into a mermaid," she whispered the last word, "so now whenever I touch water, ten seconds later I transform. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I mean, you saw it, so you must believe me...right?"

He nodded again, solemnly. "I believe that you're...a mermaid. But I don't understand how it's possible."

"It has to do with the moon..." Rikki explained. "Sorry this is really vague. I'll explain better, but first you have to promise not to tell anyone."

"Are you going to hurt me?" he asked. Rikki wasn't sure if he was serious or not.

"Of course not!" she said indignantly.

"Okay, I promise. So how, when, and why did this happen to you? I want to know everything."

Their drinks arrived and Rikki carefully sipped her soda through a straw.

"A few years ago I got lost." she tactfully left out Emma, Cleo, and Mako Island in her somewhat truthful version of the story. "I fell into this cave...it was like nothing I'd ever seen before. The only way out was through a pool of water that connected to the ocean. I got into the pool and as I did, the full moon started to show through an opening at the top of the cave. That's what I meant when I said the moon did it, but I can't explain it."

"Oh...kay." Adrian said. "Are there any others like you?"

Perhaps a bit too quickly, Rikki shook her head. "None that I know of."

"Am I the only person who knows? Surely you couldn't keep a secret like that from everyone."

She shook her head. "A few close friends know, and my boyfriend. They all found out on accident, like you did."

"You never told your parents? Why are you so scared of people finding out?"

"And I thought you were smart!" Rikki joked. "My dad would have a heart attack if he saw me, you know, like that. If everyone knew I would be locked up. People wouldn't think I was normal, they would want to experiment on me."

"Oh. I see. But surely they can't...you have rights like every other pers...I don't know what I'm saying. Sorry." his already dark cheeks flushed slightly.

"Don't worry about it." the short waiter was back with a basket of small crispy things. They looked a bit like deep-fried shrimp, but smaller. "What _are_ those?"

"It's calamari." Adrian picked one up, dipped it in cocktail sauce, and popped it in his mouth. "Deep-fried squid. My mom makes it much better, but this place is pretty good. Did I tell you I'm Greek?"

"No..." Rikki watched in awe as he ate another piece of the squid. It smelled pretty good, actually. If it was deep-fried it had to taste alright. Rikki tried a piece. It was crunchy at first, then a little slimy, but she liked it.

Adrian and Rikki decided to share a pizza. Half was for her, covered in meat, and his just had cheese and mushrooms.

"I would've thought you liked anchovies." Adrian whispered as the waiter walked away.

"Wow, a fish joke. How original." she laughed.

Rikki had to admit, once Adrian got over his initial surprise, he was very cool about the whole mermaid thing. He was skeptical of her powers until she demonstrated them (discreetly) using a glass of water. There was a mild freak-out but overall, he took the news well.

"Are you sure that's your only power?" Adrian asked after their pizza had arrived.

"Yes. Why?"

"You have a strange effect on people..." he said suspiciously. "You have to understand, the only stories I've heard about this subject are _The Little Mermaid_ and...mythological sirens."

Rikki raised her eyebrows. "You think I'm singing and luring people to their deaths?"

"No! Not exactly." he was quick to defend himself. "I meant that maybe you can convince people to do the things that you want, like booking modeling jobs for example."

She frowned.

"Not that you aren't a good model—you are, I've seen it myself—I just meant...forget it. You don't have a persuasion power?"

"Nope. Otherwise I would've gotten that car commercial, remember?" she pointed out.

Adrian looked relieved to know that he wasn't under an evil mermaid's spell. "Okay, that makes sense. Actually, none of this is making sense but under the circumstances it makes sense. Sorry, I'm rambling. We should talk about normal things for a while."

"Right. Normal." Rikki laughed. "So...how's the job going?"

"Badly. I was supposed to get a promotion last month, but Darren never fell through." Adrian said as he finished off the last of the calamari.

"What do you want to do, exactly? Do you want to be in this industry?" she asked. Although Adrian was a constant throughout her short time at Montgomery, she found it hard to picture him working in the fashion industry long-term.

"No, not exactly. My ultimate goal would be to start my own management company. I've gotten a lot of contacts so far, but to create a business I would need money first. Of course, that's kind of unrealistic. I'd be happy to be an agent with Montgomery." he explained.

She nodded. "That sounds cool. I think you'd be a good agent."

"Thanks. What about you? I know you have a restaurant or whatever, but everyone thinks you'll go really far as a model."

A few weeks ago, Rikki would've known the answer to that question. She was going to keep modeling until her contracts were over, then she would cut the cord. She would've put the past behind her.

But now...things had changed. Rikki had changed. It wasn't obvious, at least not to her—she still didn't like fashion, and she still thought most models were bimbos. She genuinely liked modeling, the feeling of becoming someone else for a few hours. She also enjoyed the crazy sets and the fascinating people.

"I don't know. I think I'll model for a while and see where it takes me. But this isn't my whole life, there are so many other things I'd like to do. So if modeling doesn't work out, my life isn't over, you know?" she admitted.

"Yes. That's smart. But I think you'll go much farther than you think. I've overheard some things..."

"Like what?" Rikki asked.

Adrian shrugged. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up...I'm under a contract. I drive around a lot of people and hear a lot of things. I'm not allowed to repeat them. But trust me, everything I've heard about you is good."

"I'll take your word for it!" Rikki laughed.

Their server returned to their table with a massive half-meat and half-mushroom pizza. Mentally, Rikki started counting calories but forced herself to stop. She had to stop dieting before it got out of control again. She had to reteach herself to think that food was a good thing. It wasn't her enemy.

Slowly, deliberately, Rikki cut herself a big piece and set it on her plate. It looked delicious. And the _smell_...

She took a big bite and savored it. The piece was gone in minutes, sent to her empty stomach. Rikki became aware of just how hungry she really was. She polished off three more pieces before she felt full.

She expected to feel guilty after she'd eaten such a big meal, but she wasn't. She was proud of herself. Food was her friend again.

Xxx

"Who's this bloke?" Zane asked, not bothering to keep his voice down. "Your driver?"

Rikki mimicked his irritated tone. "Yes, and he's also my friend. I trust him."

Bella and Cleo exchanged uneasy looks.

"Rikki...this is a huge problem." Cleo spoke up. "You may trust him, but me and Bella can't."

"What else was I supposed to do?" Rikki replied with a faint trace of anger in her voice. "Tell him it was a costume I changed into in ten seconds? Besides, he doesn't know about you two. I told him I was the only one. I _didn't_ tell him about Mako Island. We're _safe_, okay? This isn't some scientist we're dealing with, he's a friend."

Bella and Cleo didn't argue. They knew if there was a risk at all in Adrian knowing, Rikki would be the one in danger.

"This could kind of be a good thing..." Bella said tentatively. "Now if Rikki gets wet when she's modeling, she has someone to cover for her."

"Exactly!" Rikki exclaimed.

"No." Zane shook his head. "No, I don't like this. You barely know the guy and yet you tell him your biggest secret in just a few weeks? I didn't find out for months!"

"I didn't _tell_ him! Adrian found out on accident, just like you. And think about it, Zane, you were _hunting mermaids_. Of course I didn't tell you."

Rikki expected Zane to continue arguing, but he didn't. He sighed and calmed himself down slightly.

"This guy is like a hundred years old anyway, right? He's a driver." Zane changed the subject. "Old people are usually trustworthy."

"Not exactly..." Rikki replied. "He's twenty-two."

_That_ made Zane mad. Without another word, he stalked out the door and into the restaurant section of the cafe. Rikki turned back to her friends. Zane's jealousy was going to be a problem. She had far too many problems to deal with lately. Zane wasn't exactly her top priority.

"He's overreacting." Bella said after an awkward silence. "Right?"

"Right." she confirmed. But Rikki wasn't quite as sure as she sounded...there was something about Adrian that instinctively pulled Rikki to him. She would have to be very, very careful around him in the future.

Of course, once the thought of Adrian and her together had been put into her mind, she couldn't get it out. Bella and Cleo started discussing Rikki's situation but she couldn't pay attention.

She told herself to stop thinking about it and tried to focus on other things. She had plenty else to think about. Her deteriorating relationship with Zane, the cafe's money problems, her terrible grades...

Bella and Cleo walked out of the office side by side, their steps synchronized and graceful. They looked like models.

And with that last thought, Rikki had an idea.

**Don't forget to review! x**


	13. 13 Business

**A few reviewers thought that Adrian should've reacted a bit more to finding out Rikki's secret, so I explained in this chapter why I had him react the way he did :) Happy reading! Sorry this chapter is a bit short**

xxx

Rikki glanced at the number marked "followers" on her Instagram page. Surely she'd miscounted. She couldn't have two-thousand followers already.

Three zeros. It was true.

She had been rapidly gaining followers for the past week, thanks to pictures of her from the Montgomery gala. The fashion blogs seemed to love her dress, and since then her social media following had been growing like crazy, with lots of people commenting on her few posts. Most of it was nice, which she hadn't been expecting, either. Most comments on the Internet were just plain rude.

She switched off her phone and put her mind back on task: the cafe. The week before, she'd gotten a pretty good idea to raise money for the cafe. She hadn't told anyone. Rikki didn't want to get anyone's hopes up just in case her plan fell through. Today she would have to pull some serious marketing skills out of nowhere to convince other people that this was a good idea, too.

As she had watched her friends strut like models out of her office at _Rikki's_, she'd gotten the idea: have a fashion show.

Yes, it was a bit ridiculous. But from what Rikki had seen of it, the fashion world was ridiculous. Designers, models, and photographers were constantly trying to do something different and break barriers with their work. Having a fashion show at a cafe, using regular girls as models, would definitely be pushing boundaries. It would get attention for both _Rikki's_ and the designer who would potentially show there.

Rikki was about to have a meeting with said designer at that very moment.

"Are you nervous?" Adrian asked her from the driver's seat.

"A little." Rikki admitted. "This is a pretty big deal."

"I think you'll get it. Darren seems to think so, too." he said. There was a short period of silence after that. Rikki was getting sick of talking about work all the time. She decided to change the subject.

"You didn't freak out much when you found out about my...you know, tail." she pointed out. "How come?"

Adrian frowned in thought. "I don't know...I knew there was something different about you, I just didn't know what for a long time. Plus, think of the shows that are on these days. You have to admit that compared to vampires and werewolves, mermaids aren't all that scary." he laughed.

"Wanna say that again?" Rikki arched an eyebrow and raised her hand. Adrian laughed.

"I know _now_ that you could be scary. But when I first found out, after I got over the initial shock, it was just cool. I'm friends with a real mermaid. How many other people can say that?"

"Huh. I guess that makes sense." she said. Rikki had never thought about the existence of other "mythical" creatures. What if mermaids weren't the only supernatural beings out there?

Rikki shook off the slightly creepy thought. Adrian asked her a bit more about mermaid life and Rikki told him a few stories, changing them a little to not include Emma, Cleo, or Bella. They laughed the rest of the drive.

Several minutes later, Adrian pulled up to a big, tall building. Rikki had never been to New York City, but she imagined the building would fit in there nicely. She said a reluctant goodbye to Adrian and went inside.

The lobby of the skyscraper didn't do the outside of the place justice. The carpet looked cheap and old, and the chairs in the waiting room were mismatched plastic of varying sizes. Rikki approached the secretary.

She was a stern lady with a very pointed nose and pale, almost translucent skin. Rikki thought she looked like a witch. Thinking back to her conversation with Adrian about other magical creatures, she wondered absently if the secretary actually _could_ be a witch.

"Hi, I'm Rikki Chadwick. I'm here to see Erica King." she told the lady softly.

"Oh, yes, Ms. King is expecting you. Her office is on the fourth floor. You'll take a left when you get out of the elevator, and her door is the third door down." the woman's voice was so cheery, Rikki immediately felt guilty for thinking she was a witch. She thanked her, repeated the instructions in her mind, and headed for the elevator. She followed the directions perfectly and ended up in front of a door with a gilded "King" nametag on it. She knocked and was quickly told to enter.

"Rikki, hi! Good to see you again!" Erica rose from her desk to greet her.

"You, too." she smiled. She'd forgotten how nice Erica was.

"Please take a seat." Both girls sat and Erica pushed a few papers toward her. "Okay, well, this will be a quick meeting. Mr. Montgomery already signed them, so once you read through them and sign we can begin the arrangements."

Rikki picked up the first paper packet and started the read. It was difficult. The print was tiny and it was written in legal-speak. It took her five minutes just to read one paragraph.

"Do you want me to summarize it for you?" Erica asked kindly. Rikki nodded and handed it back to her.

"Alright...this first page just lists out the parties involved, and how long the agreement lasts. It will last four months with a possible renewal plan at the end of those four months. During this time you must speak with us before signing other contracts that could interfere with this one. Is that okay with you?" Erica skimmed through the page.

"Yes." Rikki replied. She was handed that page to sign, which she did. They turned to the next.

"These next few pages talk about requirements on both of our parts. I will provide you with clothes to wear at every event that you have in the next four months. You will be the new face of my brand, which will include three runway shows, photoshoots for my online store, and an ad campaign. The amount that you will be paid will be determined before each runway show or photoshoot between your manager and I. It's quite a simple contract, really." Erica flipped through the last pages. "So just sign here and it'll be a done deal."

Rikki gripped the pen but didn't make a move to sign it. "I've never walked the runway before." she admitted.

"No problem." Erica said. "We can get you some practice lessons and maybe you can speak with Darren about booking you some practice shows. The first runway show you would do wouldn't be until next month, anyway."

She squeezed the pen a little tighter and signed her name in jagged cursive. Erica grinned.

"Perfect! So I think we'll start with the photoshoot for the online store. I really want to get my new designs up as soon as possible. I'll have my assistant call your manager and arrange a shoot. And I'll talk to him about the runway."

"You know, people kept saying I was too short for runway work." Rikki commented.

"Compared to most models, yes. But my line is for the average young woman, and I intend to use a mixture of short, tall, curvy and skinny girls. It'll be fabulous."

"Sounds like it." Rikki agreed. She decided now would be a good time to bring up her cafe plan. "So if you're using typical girls...wouldn't it be a good idea to use a typical location?"

Erica laughed, but didn't completely reject the idea. "You can't exactly have a fashion show on the sidewalk."

She laughed. "Yeah...I just thought that would be a cool idea. It would be good practice for me, as well, to walk somewhere more casual."

"True." Erica agreed easily. "That is a good idea. I could have, like, a sneak-peak show to display some of my designs that won't be in the official shows. I might have to talk to my associates about that." she said with a wink. Erica finished looking over the papers. "Well, there's nothing else to sign. Do you want a tour of the place?"

Rikki nodded eagerly and both girls rose. Rikki noticed that Erica was very, very tall. She could model her own clothes if she wanted to.

She led Rikki back through the hallway to a spacious white room. Faceless mannequin's showed off beautiful dresses, perfectly tailored pants, and long trench coats. The amazing thing about the mannequin's were the diversity in them: some were long and skinny, like typical models. Some were short and curvy, or short and skinny, or tall and curvy.

"I was thinking you could wear this to a party." Erica said of a shorter, sequined black dress. At a first glance it was way too flashy for Rikki's usual tastes, but something about it was just her style.

"That's stunning." Rikki said, in awe of the beautiful design.

Erica carried on, more enthusiastic now. Rikki could tell these clothes were really her passion just by the way she spoke about them. She showed her a few more pieces and the type of girl she imagined in them.

"If you go to something really fancy, I'd like to make something couture for you." Erica babbled on.

"What's couture?" she asked.

"It basically means handmade. No one else will have the same dress." Erica explained.

"Oh. Cool." Rikki wasn't entirely sure what to say. She didn't know much about clothes. Of course, it was nice of Erica to want to make something just for her.

The taller girl walked around the room again. "This was one of my favorites. It won't be in any of my shows, though. It doesn't fit into a collection." Erica said sadly, gently rubbing the fabric of an embroidered jacket.

"Why does it have to fit in a collection?" Rikki asked, feeling extremely ignorant.

"Have you ever been to a fashion show?" Rikki shook her head. "Well, I only get to show a dozen outfits at each fashion show I'm showing at. Those twelve looks are called a collection. They are supposed to be cohesive, show what my brand is all about. Therefore I use a lot of the same fabrics but do different things with them for each outfit." Erica explained.

Now that she pointed it out, Rikki spotted the similarities in each mannequin. Black silk fabric was used in a lot of the clothes. A red and white pattern was present in a skirt, blouse and blazer. It was quite interesting now that she knew what to look for.

"Why can't you show more than a dozen outfits?" she asked. There were so many beautiful garments in the room.

"If I were a big designer, like Chanel or Gucci, I could have my own fashion show and present more looks. But the runway shows my clothes are in features lots of other designers, too. We have a time limit and a model limit." Erica said. "That's why I kind of like the idea of having a small fashion show at some casual place."

"You should go for it." Rikki encouraged. "And I know just the place...if you want."

"Where?"

"My cafe." she admitted. "Well, my boyfriend and I's cafe. It's right on the beach so you could have a show either on the stage inside or on the beach outside." Erica didn't look convinced. "It's just a suggestion, I'm sure there are lots of other places." she said hastily. She didn't want Erica to think she was just trying to promote her business.

"I think it's a great idea." Erica announced a few seconds later. "I'd have to see the place first, but it sounds good. Could you email me some photos?"

Rikki nodded enthusiastically. Erica wrote down her email. They agreed to meet up later to talk about the models, advertisements, decorations, and outfits.

The fashion show was on.

**Sorry this update took me a little while :( I've been very busy with friends, work, school, and sports. Plus there was not a lot of inspiration after the last chapter. Hopefully this next one will be better. It should be exciting! Let me know what you think of a fashion show at the café xx**


	14. 14 Runway

**Very very sorry about not updating this in a while! Not a lot of inspiration until today :( On these past few chapters I haven't gotten as many reviews as usual. Normally I'm happy with even a couple of reviews, but when you go from getting 7-8 a chapter to 3-4 a chapter I hope you guys can understand why it would be discouraging. Anyway, I tried to make this chapter longer and more interesting than the past few have been! Hope you guys like it! **

**Also, if you'd like a visual of what Bella, Cleo, and Rikki are wearing, head on over to be WannabeeAussie Instagram page :) I posted my inspiration for their outfits for this chapter! Love you guys and thanks for reading!**

"Mrs. King says you were the mastermind behind this brilliant new marketing scheme. How did you think of this idea, Rikki?" an interviewer asked as he shoved a microphone in Rikki's face.

"Well..." she coughed to sound clearer. "I got the idea to have a fashion show here, at Rikki's, because I thought two of my friends would make good models. Then I just imagined a runway there, by the stage, and Erica was onboard, and now we're here."

Shit. Rikki sucked at explanations.

"And will you be modeling tonight? We heard that only non-professional models would be walking." another interviewer asked.

"Yes, I will. We have a mixture of professional and non-professional models." she answered, thinking how strange it was that she was lumped with the 'professional' group. "But this is my first runway show so I probably won't be much better than the girls who aren't models." she laughed.

"Will you be looking for other runway work after you complete this show?"

"I will be doing other shows for Erica King but that's all I have lined up. I think I'm too short for most designers."

The questions were coming from all sides. Rikki wouldn't have time to answer them all and get backstage before the show started. "I will answer two more questions." she announced.

A young woman who looked less like a vulture than the rest of the reporters shot her hand in the air. Rikki pointed to her.

"How has it been collaborating with Erica King?" she asked breathlessly.

Rikki smiled. "She's really great. Her clothes are beautiful. We get along really well and I love what she's doing with the industry. You know, not many designers would use regular girls to market to other regular girls. That's why this show is so interesting. It's ground-breaking."

Another interviewer's hand went up. "What is your favorite outfit that you will be modeling?"

Rikki had to think for a moment. "I don't think I should ruin the surprise...but the finishing dress is my favorite. It's...couture." she struggled to remember the fashion term. Rikki posed for a few more pictures, and told the reporters that she would be available for another interview after the show. Then she dashed off to a makeshift backstage, which was actually _Rikki's_ porch with a tent around it and curtains blocking the entrance.

Rikki threw off her bathrobe to reveal her first outfit: a short black and white hounds-tooth dress. The print was a little old-ladyish, but Erica had given it a modern twist. Unfortunately, that involved showing a lot of skin. It was both strapless and exposed a lot of leg. Rikki was afraid if she fell over, she would flash everyone.

The other models, twelve including her, were also in their "casual wear". To Rikki, none of the outfits were casual. But this was fashion world, not Rikki world. Party dresses were considered casual on this runway.

She and the other models would be wearing three outfits total: a casual look, a swimsuit, and a gown. Rikki and Erica had met over lunch to discuss all of the models and which clothes would look best on each of them. She had the most fun picking out clothes for her friends.

Bella and Cleo would both be modeling that day. They were considered "unprofessional" models, but to be honest Cleo was a better walker than most of the professionals. She was also tall, obviously made for the runway. Bella was very enthusiastic and, although she wasn't the best walker, she had a nice strut and could pull of the clothes very well.

Another unexpected model was Sophie. When Rikki first brought Erica to the cafe, Sophie had been working. Erica had taken one look at her and said she was perfect for the leather jacket she'd designed. Sophie had readily agreed. Three of Erica's friends completed the unprofessional category.

Rikki had enlisted Lilly to be another professional model. She was very excited to walk the runway for the first time. Like Rikki, Lilly was also considered to be too short for runway. Lilly helped find four other models who were all stunning, diverse and looks fantastic in the clothes.

From there, Erica handled everything. She created a guest list, organized decorations, helped with publicity and picked out accessories. Rikki didn't have to do a thing.

And her original plan appeared to be working: the cafe had been packed for days with people inquired about tickets, and even some people wanting Rikki's autograph. Most stayed to order drinks, too, even when they found out that the fashion show was a mostly exclusive event. The few available tickets had gone to Will, Adrian, Darren, Jacob, and her and her friends' parents.

Cleo nervously peeked out behind the curtains, looking scared stiff. Rikki knew she would be fine. She might even get a modeling contract herself, if her runway performance was anything like her rehearsals!

All of the other girls looked nervous, too. They fussed with their lipstick, straightened and re-straightened their jewelry, and practiced walking behind stage. Rikki didn't want to worry about anything. This was like a school test; usually when she didn't study or stress out about a test, she did better than if she actually studied. She hoped this would have a similar result.

Erica's assistant, Maya, popped her head out of the curtain. "Cleo, you're on in a few minutes. Just like we practiced, okay? When the music starts you wait for a count of five and then you go." she turned to the rest of the models. "Don't leave anything for the last minute. Remember to check your clothes, make sure your shoes fit, and look in the mirror before you go."

As if any of the girls needed reminding to check the mirror. Every single reflective surface in the room was occupied.

Rikki pulled on her shoes, hounds-tooth heels that matched her dress. They weren't too high, and were much easier to walk in than some of the other shoes she'd found herself in lately. She checked her hair and make-up one last time before taking her place at the end of the line.

Her hair was currently in long, spiraling curls. Her make-up was rather simple, smoky eyes and a nude lip, so that it would look good with all of the clothes she would be wearing. There wouldn't be time to change it between shows. In fact, there would barely be time to change her _clothes_ between shows. That's how quick-paced it was.

Music began. Rikki watched Cleo take a huge, anxious breath...then she curled her lips into a fake smile, waited five beats, and walked out like a model. Her short, flowery/lacy white dress made her look even tanner than usual. She strutted to the end of the stage and did a quick turn. Photographers snapped photos for a long moment, then Cleo began her walk back. Another model went out, then two more. Next it was Bella's turn.

Bella's dress was teal, short and very sparkly. It had some triangular see-through parts but it covered a lot more than Rikki's dress. Bella's eyes popped even from a distance. She smiled a bit more than Cleo had, but did just as well on the runway.

As the girls came back from their walk, they squealed excitedly, wished Rikki good luck and rushed off to change into their swimsuits. Now that their initial nervousness was over, it looked like they were having fun.

Rikki watched as a few more people she knew walked out. There was Lilly, in a sparkly teal and lacy white concoction that actually worked really well, and Sophie, wearing green. Rikki realized that most of the dresses weren't cohesive, but at the same time they went together really well.

Two more girls strutted their stuff, and then it was Rikki's turn. She placed one foot in front of another, the way she'd been taught, and assumed her model persona. When she stepped out onto the stage, she was no longer average-girl Rikki Chadwick. She was a whole new person.

She paused to give a sultry look to the camera's before she began walking down the stage. The stiff houndstooth fabric threatened to ride up with each stride, but Rikki didn't worry about it. She imagined herself as Cara Delvigne or Rihanna, someone so cool and confident that even if there was a dress malfunction, she would turn it into a fashion do rather than a fashion don't.

There was a huge round of applause for the "casual" collection, and then Rikki dashed off to change. She would have around two minutes before the swimsuit collection started.

Many of the girls were already changed, including Cleo and Bella. They were wearing similar printed bikinis. Bella's was sky blue with a green and white pattern, and Cleo's was white with a blue and green pattern. Rikki didn't have time to talk to them, though. She ran to her clothing rack, grabbed her second outfit bag, and went to the changing rooms.

She wasted a lot of time trying to get out of her first dress. The damn thing was way too tight.

Luckily, her bikini top went on quickly. It was red with a white floral print on it. She searched the plastic bag for the bottoms...and came up empty.

"What the...?" Rikki flipped the bag inside out. There were no bottoms.

She stuck her out of the dressing room curtain. An assistant was nearby, thankfully.

"Could you look at my clothing rack for a pair of bikini bottoms? They should be red. My name is Rikki, rack number 12." she asked politely. The assistant ran off to check and returned a minute later.

"I didn't see anything." she said breathlessly.

Panic began to build up. "Did you check the floor? Maybe they fell out?"

The assistant shook her head. "I check the floor, all your other outfit bags, and the floor between the rack and the dressing rooms."

"What am I going to do?" Rikki groaned. She couldn't go out there half-naked.

"The show is starting..." the assistant said, which only increased Rikki's feeling of anxiety. She offered to find something else for her to wear, and ran off again.

Rikki put her face in her hands and tried to think. What would Rihanna do? What would Erica want her to do?

The closest thing she had to swimsuit bottoms, obviously, where her underwear. But they were navy, which wouldn't match her red and white swimsuit top. She could take a towel or a cloth and wrap it around her waist...but where would she get a towel from?

She scanned the room quickly. The dressing room curtain was black...not an option.

She peeked outside and looked for anything that even resembled a blanket. In the corner, she found it. The perfect thing. There was a decorative, almost life-size hula dancer in the corner. She had long black hair that covered her chest, a red flower necklace hung around her neck, and a red and white floral sarong wrapped around her waist.

The beachy, fashion show music started again. In five beats Cleo would walk out onto the stage. She didn't have much time, and there was no one in sight...

Rikki made a mad dash, half-naked, to the hula dancer. She grabbed the sarong and held it up against her. It would be short on one side, but it wasn't transparent and it matched her bikini perfectly. She tied it tightly on one side, briefly checked the mirror to make sure everything was covered, and ran to her place in line. She was just in time, too. The model in front of her was walking out.

"Where did _that _come from?" someone hissed to her. It was Lilly.

"Long story." Rikki whispered. It was time to walk. She placed one hand on her hip and let her confidence shine, all the while hoping the sarong wouldn't come untied. She was showing an awful lot of skin today. She wouldn't usually mind (it was her body after all!) but her dad was in the audience this time, along with Mr. Sertori, Bella's parents, Zane and Adrian.

Rikki caught Erica's eye. She looked really confused. Rikki realized she'd have to explain how an item that wasn't in Erica's collection was suddenly apart of it. She hoped the designer wasn't too angry with her...for now she clapped politely with the others. Rikki strutted easily offstage and made yet another mad dash to her clothing rack. This time she check to make sure her dress, shoes, and jewelry were all there before she went to the changing room.

Rikki was known as the closing model, which was a very prestigious position. It was like being last for a swimming or running relay; it meant you were the fastest or the best. Rikki wasn't sure she was the best, exactly, but it was an honor to close the show. She put on her dress, which was silver and went to the floor. It was also very sparkly, and the top had short, sheer sleeves. It was a very classy gown, and beautifully made.

She dressed so quickly that she was able to watch Cleo, Bella, Sophie and Lilly walk out while she was getting a make-up change. It was nothing major; the hairstylist and the make-up artists were finished in less than a minute while an assistant put on Rikki's shoes. She was given red lips and her curly hair was put into a simple updo. A pearl bracelet was also jammed onto her wrist with way too much force.

Cleo's dress was also long, but it was strapless. It was a nude color just lightly than her tan skin. Soft crisscrossing ruffles went along the bodice to the hem, which flowed out with a slight train. Bella, one of the shortest models, had the only short evening wear dress. It was white and poofy, very simple but almost doll-like. Lilly was in a pale jade dress, with a big fabric flower on the waist. Sophie had a long black beaded dress. All of the girls looked stunning.

Rikki walked very slowly, wanting to channel someone like Audrey Hepburn or Cate Blanchett rather than Rihanna or Cara. She was going for a poised look. Judging by the applause, she nailed it. Or perhaps the audience just liked the dress. Either way, it was a nice feeling.

At the end, the models all came out in reverse order with Erica. Rikki and Erica walked arm in arm, the audience cheering for the designer. Cleo was last that time.

The girls changed together into more casual clothes, talking about the event all the while. It was time for the after party.

Erica had arranged caterers and assigned tables for everyone. Rikki had helped with that. She had also been able to book one of the largest tables for her and her friends. They had managed to squeeze her, Bella, Cleo, Lilly, Sophie, Will, Zane, and Adrian all at one table.

Everyone ate, sipped champagne and occasionally danced onstage. Once the fashion show was over, the event closer resembled a wedding reception than a fashion show! There was even a photobooth, which Rikki was in and out of the entire night.

Some people didn't have as fun of a time. Zane interrogated Adrian and decided that he didn't like him. Therefore Zane tried to keep Adrian away from the group.

Another unexpected source of drama was Lilly. She got a little tipsy and began flirting with Will. She dragged him on the dance floor many times and talked to him as often as possible. Rikki could see Bella getting visibly upset, and wondered if she should have a talk with Lilly. She decided to do it when the party was over.

Later on, in the parking lot, Rikki offered to call Lilly a cab. She was obviously too drunk to drive. Lilly agreed, so Rikki waited with her on the park bench. It was the perfect time to discuss Will.

"So Lilly...do you mind if I ask you a question?" Rikki asked slowly. She didn't want to be harsh and say 'back off', but Lilly needed to get the point.

"Fire away." she answered. Lilly laid her head back on the bench and closed her eyes.

"Do you like Will?"

"He's hot." Lilly answered simply.

"But do you like him, want to be with him?" Rikki asked her more seriously.

"I don't know. Why does it matter? You don't..._like_ him do you?"

"No! Of course not. But one of my friends does like him a lot."

"That Bella chick? Hun, you could have way better friends than her. Anyone who's too shy to tell a guy she likes him is not the kind of person you want to be around." Lilly said bluntly.

Rikki was shocked by the direction their conversation had taken. "I'll be friends with whoever I want." she retorted.

"Woah, calm down." Lilly giggled. "I'm just saying...well, you can't get a boyfriend for her, can you? If she likes Will she should make it more obvious, so girls like me don't take him first."

Rikki rolled her eyes. She hated dealing with drunk people. "Whatever. Just back off, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Maybe I'll go for that Adrian guy. What I wouldn't do with him in the back of a limo..."

Rikki tried not to get upset. After all, she had no claim on Adrian. He was her friend, and that was all.

"So anyway, are you going to tell me the story of how you lost half of your swimsuit?" Lilly laughed.

Rikki frowned as she realized something. "How did you know I lost my bottoms? I didn't tell you that."

"Oh." Lilly paused. Her curled red hair came out of it's updo. "I just figured..."

She didn't have time to question Lilly further. Her cab pulled up and Rikki helped her 'friend' into the backseat. What a strange day it had been.

**As you can see there are a lot of different dramas building up in this chapter! In the next chapter we will learn about some exciting new projects for Rikki, and as modeling starts to take up more and more time we will see different relationships reaching a boiling point* x**

***Pun definitely intended **


	15. 15 Priorities

**Ohmygosh guys I'm sorry for not updating for a long time! Especially after the wonderful number and quality of reviews on the last chapter! You are all amazing, unfortunately I'm busy/tired which isn't a good combination for writing :/ I'm trying to upload once a week but that may not always be the case. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me and Hi, Society because it really means a lot!**

"Darren will be right with you, Miss Chadwick." Debra the secretary told her kindly. "You can take a seat if you like. I'll call for you when he's ready."

"Okay, thank you." Rikki said. She sat on one of the plush chairs in the waiting room, excitedly anticipating her meeting. Darren had called her in abruptly. Apparently after the impromptu fashion show at the cafe, she'd gotten a lot of offers. Darren hadn't told her many details, but if he was happy about it, Rikki should be happy about it.

He'd especially told her to bring her planner; Rikki hadn't really touched it since she first got it. She opened up the red leather book and looked at her old plans. It seemed like ages since she'd gone to the rainbow perfume shoot. In actuality just a few weeks had gone by.

She began crossing her old plans off and turned to the current pages in the planner. Then she took out her phone and started writing in her shifts at the cafe. Rikki hoped none of her modeling jobs would interfere with her cafe work, but that wasn't likely. Sophie would be glad to have the extra shifts, of course.

"You can go on up now." Debra called to her. Rikki thanked her again and went up to the now-familiar fourth floor.

A very upset-looking model was coming out of Darren's office as Rikki was going in. Darren, however, was cheerful as always.

"Rikki! How's my top model today?" he boomed.

"Fine." Rikki replied.

"Well, you're going to be feeling a lot better than fine by the end of the day!" he exclaimed. "Your schedule is going to be jam-packed for the next few weeks. Do you have any important days coming up that you must take off, weddings or funerals or anything like that?"

Rikki thought. "Exams are in three weeks."

"Alright, I'll try to keep your workload light around then." he wrote down a little reminder on a yellow post-it note. Rikki thanked him. She really needed to focus more on her studies. Her grades had come in a few weeks ago...ouch. Rikki had hid the paper under her pillow so her dad wouldn't know.

"So, are you into music?" _Darren_ asked her absentmindedly.

"Yeah." she was a bit surprised at the question.

"Do you know of the band 'Rapids'?"

"Yes! I love them." she was even more surprised that Darren had heard of the rock band. He seemed like more of a pop kind of person.

"That's good, because I haven't!" Darren laughed. "I thought you might like a little break from modeling. The band is looking for someone to be featured in their new music video. It doesn't pay much, though...interested?"

As excited as Rikki was to be in a music video for one of her favorite bands, she remembered how badly she'd done at that audition for the car commercial. "What would I have to do?"

"The song is about clubbing, I think. So you would be filmed in different clubs all over the area, being crazy and stuff. I'm sure you'd have some scenes with the band members, too."

Rikki still had her doubts, but it was such a big opportunity. "I'd love to do it."

"I'll sign you up for that then...it shoots next Saturday. Rather short notice, I'm afraid. The next offers we have are more photoshoots. One is a magazine spread, very high-profile, with _Trendwatch_ magazine. Another is for a make-up blog. It should only take a few hours and it pays very well. The blog shoot would take place the Friday before the music video, and the _Trendwatch_ shoot would happen the following Saturday. Also there's the shoot for Erica King's online store, which is this weekend. Sound good?"

Rikki nodded eagerly, thinking how strange it was that she felt so comfortable in this industry already. She wasn't nervous at all for her upcoming shoots.

Darren clicked at a few things on his computer. "Lastly I have you scheduled for some go-sees...one is for a runway, we need to get you more experience, and also one for a commercial and another for a photo-shoot."

Rikki's feeling of ease slid away. "A commercial? I don't know about that...I really can't act."

"Don't worry, you just weren't prepared for that car commercial. I should've explained it better. This one will be more organized and it's a much shorter script. Mostly it will involved a lot of hair-flipping, as it's a shampoo commercial." he explained.

She couldn't exactly picture herself flipping luxurious, silky hair for a camera crew, but Rikki agreed to the go-sees. As long as Miriam wasn't there she might do okay.

Darren chewed the end of his pen slightly. "Damn. I just realized...you're still in school. This is a problem."

"Why?"

"Well, you see, for most models, modeling is a full time job. They don't just laze around all day while waiting for their photo-shoots. They go to go-sees, meetings, things like that throughout the day. Most go-sees take place during the morning or afternoon...while you're in school." he said.

"Oh." Rikki felt stuck. "I can't skip too many classes...but a few, maybe? I'm hardly going to be an honors student."

"I don't know, Rikki. It's important for you to graduate." Darren said, sounding more like an uncle than an agent.

"I know, I know." she replied. "I can do both!"

"If you're sure..." he still sounded hesitant. "I'll try to only book you for go-sees once a week, but I can't do much to reschedule photo-shoots that clash with your school schedule. Have you ever thought about getting a tutor? Or taking correspondence courses or online classes? I've managed a few girls who've done that."

Rikki frowned. She would never be able to concentrate without a teacher in the room. And who would she ask if she needed help? No, physical school was the only learning method for her. It was a gut feeling. "I really think I should stay in school." she said firmly.

"Okay, I agree. Just let me know if you want a tutor, I could set you up with one. They could help you out with homework while you're riding to photo-shoots or whatever." Darren said. Rikki nodded. That didn't seem like such a bad option, especially if she got to graduate with Bella and Cleo still.

"Let's fill out your schedule and then we'll be done here." Darren said. Rikki handed him her red planner and he started scribbling activities and times in loopy cursive. Within minutes, he had mapped out her next two weeks.

Rikki glanced over them with excitement. She was going to be one busy girl, and weirdly enough, she liked it. Previously, she'd been a homebody; she loved to watch TV in sweatpants and spend most of her time doing nothing. Now she almost felt like if she didn't go out at least once a day, that day was wasted.

Rikki broke out of her self-evaluating thoughts, thanked Darren, and left his office. She began scribbling reminders in her planner; the rare days with nothing marked on them she left open for dates, sleepovers or even studying, and any exam dates she could remember Rikki wrote down. She felt very organized by the time she reached the lobby and started driving home.

Xxx

It was very late when Rikki pulled into her driveway. Before she got to her front door, her father was already outside.

"Where have you been? No text, no call—how'm I meant to know whether you're lying in a ditch or out working at the cafe or wherever you've been for the past six hours?!" he yelled.

Rikki frowned and pushed past her dad. "I was at school, and then I had a meeting." she snapped. The door slammed shut behind her, only to be wrenched open again by her dad.

"Without telling me?" he yelled.

Rikki whipped around. "I'm sorry, okay? I forgot! I'm busy!"

Her father didn't say anything for a moment, but Rikki could tell he wasn't calming down. He went to the kitchen table and grabbed an official-looking piece of paper. "Too busy for anything but work, eh? Have you seen your grades lately? And did you know Cleo and Bella have been 'round here almost every day asking about where you are?"

Her eyes went guiltily to the ground. She had been neglecting some other areas of her life lately.

Mr. Chadwick waved the paper in front of her eyes and Rikki could see that it was a progress report. Not a good one, judging from her dad's face.

She took the paper and studied it. She was failing two classes, and didn't have anything better than a C in any of her others.

"You're a smart kid, Rikki. Much smarter than those grades show." her dad said, much calmer now. "I spoke with some of your teachers and they said you're falling asleep in class and even less focused than usual."

"I'm just tired. I'll try harder." Rikki replied quietly.

"I know it's 'cause of all those modeling gigs you've got. And I know that's probably my fault—if I hadn't've gotten us into debt in the first place, you never would've taken that job. So that's why it's my responsibility to help you with your studies." he said firmly. "You're staying home all weekend and working on school. No friends, no Zane, and _especially_ no jobs."

"Dad!" Rikki protested. "I can't cancel, I'm supposed to work at the cafe all weekend!" She didn't bother to mention the fact that she wasn't going to school on Friday.

"No excuses. Get someone to take your shifts." her dad said sternly.

"_Dad_!" Rikki groaned, sounding like a typical whiny teenager. She resisted the urge to yell 'you're ruining my life' and instead stomped to her room. She turned back one last time, her voice cold and vaguely threatening. "I decided I'm not going to uni. Guess I may as well drop out now."

**Thanks to the following reviewers, who were extraordinarily great on the last chapter: Shadeslayerprincess111, MTOBEIYF, Starlightdreamer12, Purple Angel Love, HermioneWP, H2o42 (through Instagram basically lol), Audreycariba and a Guest! **

**Next chapter will be a major turning point as some people who are close to Rikki stop supporting her decision to model...**


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